Allow me at the outset to extend my warm
congratulations upon your election to the presidency of
the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly. That
election is a resounding tribute by the international
community to Gabon, that brother country, for its
singular leadership role in Africa, and for the personal
commitment of President Omar Bongo Ondimba that
has enabled Central Africans to be reconciled today,
for which we are most grateful. Your great experience
and ability as a diplomat and a statesman assure us of
the success of our work.
His Excellency François Bozizé, President of the
Republic and Head of State of my country, whose faith
in the ideals of this Organization are unwavering,
wishes you all success. As you might expect, my
delegation will be fully with you in your endeavours. I
would like to recall the competence with which your
18

predecessor, Mr. Julian Hunte of Saint Lucia,
conducted the work of the fifty-eighth session.
Allow me to extend to Secretary-General Kofi
Annan the appreciation of the Central African Republic
for his endeavours to strengthen peace wherever it is
threatened and his resolve to find ways and means to
preserve the authority and credibility of the United
Nations, which has been so sorely tried in recent years.
Before making its contribution and offering its
thoughts on the state of the world, my delegation
would like to join with all those who have expressed
their sympathy to the populations that have fallen
victim to natural disasters taking place in parts of the
Pacific and on the American continent, which have left
a woeful train of destruction in their path.
The major issues of the world today —
international peace and security, combating poverty,
development, the defence and promotion of human
rights, protection of the environment and health —
cannot find a lasting solution save through the common
efforts of the international community through United
Nations. To echo the expressive words of the
Secretary-General in his 2002 report entitled
Strengthening of the United Nations: an agenda for
further change, “The challenge ahead is to strengthen
our capacity for collective action and thus forge a
common destiny in a time of accelerating global
change (A/57/387, para. 2)”.
In that context, multilateralism, which is the main
guarantee of the participation of all nations in
international affairs, must be safeguarded and
strengthened at all costs. The spread of crisis
flashpoints, the radicalization of international terrorism
and organized crime, growing poverty and the spread
of endemic diseases — all of those things should
convince us that only active international solidarity is
capable of ensuring stability and security for our
world.
The tenacity with which terrorism is defying the
international community in so many different ways is
indeed disturbing. That scourge knows no borders,
race, or religion. The attacks of 11 September 2001 in
New York and Washington, 11 March 2004 in Spain
and 2 September 2004 in Russia are only its latest
expressions. Given the complexity of that
phenomenon, we must arrive at a collective response to
what has become a common menace. However,
because our countries lack adequate means to combat
that scourge, the essential problem of cooperation by
the richer countries arises in order to obtain better
equipment for detection, identification, surveillance
and control on our land, sea and air borders. Similarly
the fight against transnational organized crime also
calls for large-scale cooperation under the aegis of the
special fund for cooperation provided for by United
Nations conventions.
The difficult present international economic
context has negatively affected the developing
economies in general and African economies in
particular. Stiff international trade competition,
intensified protectionist practices, fluctuating
currencies, the burden of debt — all these are
handicaps that are slowing the development of our
countries.
In Cancun last year, members of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) tried to relaunch efforts towards
the liberalization of trade. We must continue to seek
solutions to overcome the failure of Cancun and ensure
the success of the Doha round of trade negotiations.
The 2004 WTO meeting in Geneva is proof that we
must not stand idly by when faced with the policy of
agricultural subsidies. The Millennium Declaration, the
outcome of the Johannesburg Summit and the
Monterrey Consensus have laid out the path to be
followed and the goals to be pursued in order to
establish a true world partnership for development.
Since the last General Assembly session, the
world has undergone a series of changes exacerbating
an already deteriorated situation as a result of threats to
peace and security and a growing number of points of
conflict and tension. An example is the situation in the
Middle East, which is a source of deep concern.
Indeed, despite the transfer of powers to the new Iraqi
authorities on 29 June, the spiral of violence continues
uncontrollably, fuelling the Iraqi people’s resentment
of the international community. The recent
appointment of a Special Representative of the
Secretary-General in Iraq means that the United
Nations has a central role to play in the political
reconstruction process there. However, the Central
African Republic ardently hopes for the
implementation of proposals already made by France,
in cooperation with the Russian Federation, for an
international conference on Iraq, within the framework
of the United Nations.
19

In Israel, the international community must
continue to support the action of the Quartet to restore
peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
There is no alternative to the road map, which calls for
parallel advances in the three areas of security, politics
and economics. In Africa, despite certain successes
such as the return to peace in Angola, Sierra Leone
and — little by little — in Liberia, the African
continent is still a source of deep concern. The surge in
armed conflicts, the tensions and the instabilities are
becoming a recurrent phenomenon. While the third
Accra meeting favourably restarted the peace process
in Côte d’Ivoire and gave rise to new hope, other
sources of conflict are surfacing here and there.
The Darfur crisis in the Sudan continues to
mobilize the international community’s attention due to
the large movements of populations towards the
borders with Chad and the insecurity that persists
there. My Government is following with particular
interest the developments in the situation in Darfur due
to the humanitarian and security implications for the
Central African Republic, which borders on the Sudan
and Chad.
In the Central African Republic, we support the
initiatives taken, since the Chadian mediation, through
international forums, which have taken over from it in
the framework of the African Union and the United
Nations. We encourage the Sudanese Government —
which has proved its readiness — and the parties
involved to follow the path of wisdom based on the
dialogue established by President Olusegun Obasanjo,
President of the African Union, and thus spare the
brotherly Sudanese people more suffering, since
Security Council sanctions would only worsen their
suffering.
The massacre of 160 refugees in Gatumba on
14 August 2004 on the border between the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and Burundi sparked
widespread indignation and exacerbated an already
delicate situation in that part of the Great Lakes region.
However, our conviction is that despite the setbacks,
the various agreements between Rwanda and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo on the one hand,
and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda
on the other, as well as the historic agreements of Sun
City, have finally made progress towards peace
irreversible in the Great Lakes region.
That, in any case, is the purpose of our active
participation in the preparatory process for the
international conference on peace, security and
development of the Great Lakes region and our
contribution to the stability pact that will emerge from
it. This is within the framework of the global,
integrated and concerted approach sought by the
United Nations, which has the advantage of pursuing
regional solutions that will reach beyond the
geographical borders of the six countries of the Great
Lakes region.
I would like to touch on the situation in my own
country, the Central African Republic. Proclaimed
independent on 13 August 1960, my country has gone
through relatively brief periods of political and social
progress, linked by long periods of economic
stagnation and even retreat, justifying the opinions of
Afro-pessimists about its chaotic development. As with
many other African States, a series of coups marked
our political development. Some of these were palace
coups and others involved a true popular revolution
characterized by both the crystallization of social
aspirations they unleashed and the political changes
they brought about, such as the Carnation Revolution
of Portugal in 1974. The changes of 15 March 2003
were of that type. They were popular movements
carried forward by social forces that were as different
from each other as were the involved political parties,
labour unions, religious bodies, non-governmental
organizations and the army.
I am pleased once again to pay tribute to the
resolute action of our Organization and that of the
whole international community, which spared no effort
before 15 March 2003 to find a happy solution to the
Central African crisis, mobilizing the Security Council;
the French-speaking world; the central organ of the
former Organization of African Unity (OAU) for the
prevention, management and settlement of conflicts;
the heads of State of the Central African Economic and
Monetary Community, especially President El Hadj
Omar Bongo Ondimba; the Economic Community of
Central African States; and the Community of Sahelo-
Saharan States.
For more than a year, the Central African people
have been trying to rebuild their broken unity, while
the Government pursues the restoration of security
throughout its territory. Confidence is growing with
both our bilateral and multilateral foreign partners.
Constitutional legality will be established at the end of
20

free and transparent elections to take place in early
2005. These are the main points of the timetable that
the consensual transitional administration set up in
June 2003 and that it has been pursuing ever since, in
keeping with its commitments.
Indeed, the national transitional council, a
provisional parliament established in July 2003, is
representative of all of the socio-political forces of the
nation and fulfils a legislative function, including the
adoption of legislation and the oversight of
governmental activities.
The timetable for the transition also provided for
the organization of a national dialogue. For nearly two
months, from September to October 2003, all of the
active forces of the nation came together in this forum
to search together for the deep causes of what has
divided us for so long. From these meetings emerged
recommendations, the main points of which underlie
the activities of our Government today and the
fundamental law of our country, on which our people
are preparing to vote through a referendum. An organ
that was specifically created to oversee the application
of these recommendations, the national dialogue
follow-up committee, is now pursuing its mission.
An independent joint electoral commission, made
up of representatives of political parties, civil society
and the administration, was also set up, which has just
published the timetable for a future referendum and
elections as follows: 30 November 2004, constitutional
referendum; 30 January 2005, legislative and
presidential elections, first round; 27 February 2005,
second round; 14 March 2005, announcement of
results.
The mission of the present transitional
Government is to bring about conditions permitting a
return to normal democratic life in the Central African
Republic. However, the grave financial difficulties
faced by my country do not enable it to face alone the
costs of these various elections. Of the 5.5 billion CFA
francs necessary to finance these elections, we thus far
have only 3.5 billion. I would address an appeal for
assistance to enable us to organize the elections under
proper conditions and thus bring about a rapid return to
constitutional order.
As of now, my Government sincerely thanks the
brother countries and international organizations that
have so generously contributed to financing this
process, especially France, the People’s Republic of
China, the European Union and the Central African
Economic and Monetary Community. The support that
the international community will provide to this very
difficult and delicate phase in the history of the Central
African Republic will be necessary to conclude this
consensual transition. Our common dedication to
democracy prompts me to believe that this appeal by
the people and Government of my country will be
heeded.
The challenges to be overcome in fulfilling the
great hopes inspired by the changes of 15 March 2003
are many and pressing. These same challenges
prompted the establishment of an agenda — a road
map — that is focused on three major points: first,
consensual governance for a rapid return to
constitutional order; secondly, restoration of security
and an effective return to peace; and, thirdly,
combating poverty. The measures adopted by the new
authorities, as they are outlined above, will lead to the
restoration of peace and national reconciliation and
were endorsed by the Central African people and
rightly welcomed by the international community.
Today, thanks to the re-establishment and
restructuring of our security and defence forces, the
presence of the multinational force from the Central
African Economic and Monetary Community, with
France providing logistical support, and assistance
from friendly countries, in particular France, Libya, the
Sudan, the People’s Republic of China and Morocco,
as well as the Community of Sahelo-Saharan States, we
can say that the process of making the whole Central
African territory secure has made significant progress.
Efforts are still needed to ensure full security before
the elections take place. But the relief felt by the
population and the hopes inspired by the changes of
March 2003 will be gravely compromised if the
commitments undertaken in this regard by the
international community since May 2000 are not
realized.
It is also essential that we attack the economic
and financial problems as part of the struggle against
poverty. From that perspective, the Central African
Republic offers its full support to the Declaration on
Action against Hunger and Poverty, adopted in New
York on 20 September 2004 as a result of a joint
initiative by President Chirac and President Ignacio
Lula da Silva.
21

The post-conflict programme that my
Government, working with the international financial
institutions, has just drawn up provides a sound basis
for the reforms that are necessary if my country is to
have greater opportunities for success in the field of
reconstruction.
The considerable efforts made at the national
level and the steadfast support of the friends of the
Central African Republic, including France, the
People’s Republic of China and the countries members
of the Central African Economic and Monetary
Community, have helped to lift the burden that salary
arrears imposed on the transition process, with the
result that the people of the Central African Republic
will emerge stronger and more united.
I could not conclude without touching upon a
subject with regard to which all those who have spoken
have been unanimous: if we are to make progress in
this era, the United Nations must undertake a rational
reform — a reform that is necessary if the Organization
is to strengthen its role and enhance its effectiveness.
That reform effort must begin by reconfiguring
the Security Council — the central organ entrusted
with the major task of dealing with issues of peace and
security. From the perspective of the delegation of the
Central African Republic, the initiative of France and
Germany calling for a permanent seat for Germany,
and the similar appeal in favour of such seats for
Japan, Africa and Latin America, should be given
serious consideration.
Furthermore, the proposal of the Chairman-in-
Office of the Economic Community of Central African
States, President Denis Nguesso, calling for a political
presence in the United Nations in the person of a
representative of the Secretary-General for Central
Africa, is also worth consideration.
The Central African Republic will support
proposals for reform submitted by the Secretary-
General insofar as they strengthen the role of the
Organization in the maintenance of international peace
and security and the resolution of international issues
on the basis of the principles of dialogue and
multilateral cooperation.


Sir, allow me to
congratulate you most warmly on your well-deserved
election. I am confident you will build upon the
excellent work done by your predecessor, Mr. Julian
Robert Hunte, and lead us to a very successful outcome
of this session. Special tribute is due to our Secretary-
General, Kofi Annan, for his dedicated leadership.
In Bangladesh, we believe that the United
Nations provides an essential political and diplomatic
framework for the actions of all its Members, including
the most powerful. The use of force without the
authorization of the United Nations Security Council
cannot render the United Nations meaningless. We laud
the United Nations for its strong advocacy against
unilateralism in the interest of a just global order. Our
spontaneous endorsement of this principle is in
conformity with the fundamentals of our foreign
policy.
The United Nations is not only a system for
providing collective security. It is also a
comprehensive international network of systems. It
deals with the work of myriad specialized agencies,
establishing norms, standards, codes and guidelines
and buttressing the rule of law and the rights of
individuals. It embraces the world’s trading, financial
and monetary systems and promotes the cause of
development. In our globalized world, there is no
substitute for the United Nations. It is the only forum
that can deal with the cooperative management of
problems that recognize no frontiers.
The thirtieth anniversary of our admission to the
United Nations this year marks a major milestone in
our partnership with the Organization. It is a sobering
moment as much as it is one for rejoicing; for it is a
record of our progress as a sovereign independent State.
From the very outset, Bangladesh pursued two pre-
eminent objectives, strengthening responsibility at home
and enhancing our contribution abroad. Our relationship
with the United Nations has been mutually rewarding
in promoting peace and advancing development.
Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman laid the
foundations of our national development in the late
1970s. His philosophy embraced reinforcing
democracy with development. Our achievements are
largely due to this pursuit. It reflects our commitment
to human rights, good governance and empowerment
of the poor, especially women. Innovative ideas
flowing from our own intellectual resources were
harnessed, with the cooperation and support of our
development partners and, of course, the United
Nations system. A free press and a vibrant civil society
32

backed our efforts. The outcome was positive: it was to
invoke what the World Bank described as the silent
revolution that is Bangladesh. We are aware that much
more remains to be done.
Natural disasters have often proved to be
impediments to our development. The excessive
flooding this year is a case in point. Two thirds of the
country was under water, and many lives were lost.
Over 2 million people became homeless and our
infrastructure sustained severe damage. Better
preparedness prevented greater losses. The courage and
resilience of the Bangladeshi people in facing the
situation were indeed remarkable. We deeply
appreciate the support and solidarity that we received
from the international community this time.
The peculiarities of our geography render
flooding a seasonal occurrence. It is therefore
imperative that we seek measures that will address this
recurrent problem in a sustained and enduring manner,
through proper management of the water resources in
the region. In the final analysis, long-term
rehabilitation and reconstruction measures also require
international support.
Despite those occasional setbacks, we in
Bangladesh can point to progress in a number of
important social and economic fields. Poverty
reduction has been a central goal. We have reduced
population growth by half, curbed child mortality by a
third, achieved food self-sufficiency for our people,
improved sanitation standards with home-grown
methods, and reduced ozone-depleting substances and
vehicular pollution overall. Education has remained a
major thrust of our Government’s policy. Our school
enrolment rates are among the highest in the
developing world, particularly for girls. Free schooling
for girl children, gender mainstreaming and the
empowerment of women have helped create a vibrant
and progressive society. In addition, ideas like micro-
credit and non-formal education have made famous
beginnings in Bangladesh.
We would be happy to share our experiences with
other comparable societies, and the United Nations can
be an effective conduit for doing so. We encourage the
United Nations in its role as a locator, collator and
transmitter of best practices. That is how the United
Nations can really help developing countries, by
passing the litmus test of relevance, not in drafts and
declarations alone but also in operations and
implementation.
The past decade has witnessed many important
United Nations conferences focused on our critical
aspirations. The leaders of the world agreed on the
Millennium Development Goals. However, the success
of the Goals will largely depend on an enabling
international economic environment, particularly in the
areas of trade, finance, official development assistance
and technology transfer.
Extreme poverty is a gross denial of human
rights. The disturbing experiences of recent years,
including the rise in senseless terrorism, warn us that
failure in development is not an option, that poverty
can breed extremism and that to rid the world of its
tragic consequences effectively its root causes must be
addressed.
In today’s world, trade remains a crucial vanguard
for development. Our active participation in the World
Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development conforms to that maxim.
Unhindered market access and special and preferential
treatment for the products of developing countries
should be at the heart of multilateral negotiations.
Managed migration is an important phenomenon.
However, the root causes of cross-border migratory
flows need to be addressed in earnest.
Greater focus must be placed on the full
implementation of the Brussels Programme of Action
for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade
2001-2010. The goals of the Johannesburg Plan of
Implementation and the Monterrey Consensus should
be pursued with determination.
While it is important to set targets, it may be
more important to create the means to achieve them.
For the cause of development to progress, we need an
environment of peace worldwide. Sadly, that is still
lacking in many parts of the world.
We are concerned about the persistent violence in
Iraq. We are encouraged by the return of the United
Nations to the scene. We now expect the United
Nations to play a central role in facilitating the
democratic process and in the reconstruction and
humanitarian work in that country.
In Afghanistan, the holding of a successful election
next month will be critical to the country’s stability.
33

Our people cherish their close bond of friendship
with the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. We pray that
their travails will be over soon.
A core issue in the Middle East remains the
unresolved problem of Palestine. The Palestinians have
suffered far too much for far too long, and the wall
now only exacerbates that suffering. Perhaps there can
be a two-State solution on the basis of the pre-1967
borders, with an independent Palestine that has East
Jerusalem as its capital. Until that is achieved, there
must be respect for international law, and all peoples in
the region must be able to live in peace and security,
free from violence, destruction and acts of terror.
Wherever it has been possible, Bangladesh has
not fought shy of contributing to post-conflict stability.
We have always done so under the aegis of the United
Nations. We are near the top of the list of participating
countries with regard to peacekeeping. Over the past
20 years, we have been involved in 28 United Nations
peacekeeping operations across 4 continents. Currently,
we are participating in 12 of the 16 United Nations
missions. We have done so because we see this as
advancing our role and perception as a constructive and
stabilizing international actor. We do not do it out of
convenience; we do it out of our conviction.
We believe that there is a direct relationship
between disarmament and development. Bangladesh is
party to all major international conventions and treaties
on disarmament. Our geographical location makes
nuclear weapons a direct and legitimate cause for
concern to us in the South Asia region. Bangladesh
therefore supports all measures, partial and otherwise,
towards arms control and conventional and nuclear
disarmament.
Bangladesh has condemned international
terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We
remain an active coalition partner in the war against
terrorism.
Bangladesh has been playing an active role in
many important committees and commissions of the
United Nations. We believe that the reform of the
General Assembly and the Security Council that is
currently being discussed can truly help re-energize the
system and enable those institutions to reflect the
realities of the contemporary world. Consultations
should be broad-based and should not be guided by the
perceived interests of a few alone. Bangladesh believes
that any increase in the membership of the Council
should be based on certain criteria, including respect
for the principle of equitable geographical distribution
and the aspirant’s contribution to international peace
and security, its proven track-record in democracy, its
compliance with United Nations resolutions, its
avowed commitment to nuclear disarmament, its
profile as a major partner in development and its
contribution as a voice of economically disadvantaged
countries. Bangladesh believes that the ultimate focus
of any reform exercise should be on enhancing the
Council’s credibility and democratic profile through its
working methods and its decision-making processes.
The quest for world order must begin at our own
doorstep. Bangladesh is committed to maintaining the
credibility of the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) to provide its socio-economic
mandate and to reduce tension and create a broad-
based climate of confidence-building. Bangladesh will
take over as chairperson of the thirteenth SAARC
summit in January, next year. The occasion will mark
the 20th anniversary of SAARC, and we look forward
to celebrating the occasion with due solemnity as well
as maintaining positive and forward-moving
momentum. Our overarching commitment, of course,
remains poverty alleviation. All in all, we aspire to
expand our collective agenda for peace, progress and
development in South Asia and beyond.
I firmly believe that nations big and small, weak
and powerful, all need the United Nations as much as
the United Nations needs them. It is only by combining
our endeavours and uniting our resolve that we will be
able to achieve our objectives of peace, security and
development.
The power of humanity does not lie in the size of
its armies but rather in the strength of its ideas, not in
its ability to destroy but in its capability to build, not in
its tendencies to despair, but in its propensities for
hope. Our ability to tap this power for our own benefit
will shape our future in these times marked by
difficulties but also possibilities.


I wish, Sir, to express
to you my most sincere congratulations on your
election as President of this session of the General
Assembly and to wish you every success in steering the
work of this body. I would also like to extend our
thanks and appreciation to the President of the fifty-
eighth session of the General Assembly, especially for
his inspired efforts to promote so vigorously the
agenda of United Nations reform and the revitalization
of the General Assembly.
As this is the last session of the General Assembly
before the 2005 major event, we must proceed to evaluate
the prospects for attaining the ambitious targets we set
at the turn of the millennium. The major event will be
the first real assessment of our progress towards the
implementation of the Millennium Declaration, of the
outcomes of major world conferences and of initiatives
such as the action launched by the Presidents of Brazil,
France and Chile and the Prime Minister of Spain to
eradicate poverty and hunger, and the initiative of the
Presidents of Finland and Tanzania on the social
dimensions of globalization.
Specifically with regard to the Millennium
Development Goals, we believe that the ability to make
development on the ground an issue of global concern
as a result of those pledges will be a measure of the
ability of the United Nations to induce significant
change and advances where they are most needed.
The Republic of Cyprus supports the
strengthening of the United Nations system through the
reform process that is under way and looks forward to
the report of the High-Level Panel on Threats,
Challenges and Change and the recommendations of
the Secretary-General. We attach particular importance
to the revitalization of the General Assembly and to the
reform of the Security Council so that its structure will
reflect contemporary political realities and a more
balanced geographical representation. In the spirit of
those two principles, and with the aim of reinforcing
the legitimacy and efficacy of the Council, Cyprus is
supportive of increasing both the permanent and the
non-permanent membership. In that respect, we believe
that the joint French and German position on the
enlargement of the Council could provide a basis for
achieving the aforementioned objectives.
We share the assessment of the Secretary-General
that consolidating effective multilateralism in a flexible
and versatile United Nations is the best way to address
the complete spectrum of global crises and ensure that
preventive mechanisms exist to avert such crises. Such
consolidation applies also to security deficits and
particularly terrorism, whose underlying causes we
have been unable to eliminate despite our concerted
efforts. We consider that the conclusion of a
5

comprehensive United Nations convention against
terrorism is important in order to address more
resolutely, within the framework of international
legality, the threat posed by terrorism.
Addressing other deficiencies in the international
system — particularly those that give rise to crisis
situations and to humanitarian disasters — should also
be considered a matter of both urgency and priority.
One such crisis is Darfur, which, following many
others like it, keeps Africa at the heart of our concerns.
It demonstrates not only why we should focus the
majority of our humanitarian resources and
peacekeeping efforts on Africa, but also why we should
undertake every possible effort to make sustainable
development a global reality.
The Middle East is another region that remains
volatile, despite growing global concern and despite
many attempts to restore the peace process in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We deem to be necessary
more active involvement by the Quartet in the efforts
to implement the road map and put an end to the cycle
of violence. More emphasis should also be placed on
the task of improving living conditions in order to
normalize people’s lives to the greatest possible extent.
Our support remains focused on ending the occupation,
achieving a just and viable settlement based on United
Nations resolutions, and the realization of the
Palestinian people’s aspirations for the establishment
of an independent State, living side by side with Israel
in conditions of sustainable peace and security.
The aspirations of humanity revolve around the
achievement of full respect for human rights,
democracy and the rule of law. The collective vision
and effort required to fulfil that massive endeavour
demands the contribution of all, to the extent of their
capabilities. Cyprus is prepared to play its part from its
vantage point in the European Union, while drawing
upon its traditional participation in forums dedicated to
promoting agendas pertaining to those values. That
affiliation has been a source of support for us since
Cyprus’s independence, and its impact not only makes
us grateful but also has endowed us with sensitivities
that will continue to be an integral part of our
approach.
I would like to emphasize how proud we are that
Cyprus is now a member of the European Union. The
Union has outlined an extensive set of priorities for
this session of the General Assembly. As the statement
delivered Tuesday by the Dutch presidency has
delineated those priorities, I will not elaborate on them
any further.
This year marks 30 years since the occupation of
37 per cent of Cyprus’s territory as a result of the
invasion of the island by Turkish troops. It also marks
30 years of relentless efforts by the Greek Cypriots to
achieve a just and peaceful settlement, with the support
of the international community, for which I would here
like to express our deep appreciation.
The Secretary-General’s most recent effort to
solve the Cyprus problem resulted in a plan that was
described by some as a historic opportunity to solve
one of the most long-standing international problems. I
will outline only briefly why, despite the hard work
invested in the process by everyone involved, the end
product of that effort was judged to have been
inadequate and to have fallen short of minimum
expectations for a settlement for Greek Cypriots.
First, the Annan Plan was not the product of
negotiation, nor did it constitute an agreed solution
between the parties. Secondly, the Plan did not place
the necessary emphasis on achieving a one-State
solution with a central Government able to guarantee
the single, sovereign character of Cyprus. Thirdly, it
failed to address the serious concerns of the Greek
Cypriot community regarding their security and the
effective implementation of the Plan.
In rejecting the Plan as a settlement for the
Cyprus problem, the Greek Cypriots did not reject the
solution or the reunification of their country; they
rejected this particular Plan as not effectively
achieving that objective. We remain committed to a
solution that will ensure the reunification of our
country, its economy and its people.
We are committed to reaching a solution on the
basis of a bizonal, bicommunal federation. There are,
however, a number of essential parameters on which
the Greek Cypriot community insists such a solution
must be founded: the withdrawal of Turkish troops and
settlers and respect for the human rights of all
Cypriots, the underlying structures for a functioning
economy, the functionality and workability of the new
state of affairs, the just resolution of land and property
issues in accordance with the decisions of the
European Court of Human Rights, and respect for the
right of return of refugees. To that end, we welcome
the recent Pinheiro progress report on the restitution of
6

property in the context of the return of refugees and
internally displaced persons. Simultaneously, it distresses
me to bring to the attention of the Assembly that
certain provisions of the Annan Plan have encouraged
the unprecedented unlawful exploitation of properties
in occupied Cyprus that belong to Greek Cypriots.
The most paramount feature of any settlement is
the ability to instil a sense of security among the
people. In that regard, the mistakes of the past must not
be repeated. Cyprus must, in its future course, proceed
without any grey areas with regard to its sovereignty or
its relations with third-party States. If the people feel that
their needs have not formed the basis of any solution that
has been reached or that the characteristics of that
solution have been dictated by the interests of third
parties, then that solution will, unsurprisingly, be
rejected. Indeed, in spirit and in practice, effective
multilateralism not only encompasses but also derives
from the comprehension and consideration of local
realities and particulars, on which it must then proceed
to formulate proposals.
In the framework of the European Union, and
with the aim of promoting reunification and
reconciliation, my Government — despite the obstacles
created by the current status quo — is consistently
pursuing policies aimed at enhancing the economic
development of the Turkish Cypriots. We believe that
such policies, while not intended to serve as a
substitute for a solution, are the most effective way to
foster maximum economic integration of the two
communities and to increase contact between them, so
as to ensure the viability of a future solution.
The Cyprus problem is not always perceived in
its correct context. The fact remains that this problem
is the result of a military invasion and of the continued
occupation of part of the territory of a sovereign State.
That fact should not be conveniently overlooked by
concentrating on peripheral matters. Any initiative to
solve the problem must have at its core that most basic
and fundamental fact and must be based on the premise
that international legality must be served and the
occupation ended.
Unfortunately, the fundamentals of the situation
on the ground have remained unchanged for the past 30
years, since the Turkish invasion in Cyprus. That
situation comprises severe violations of the most
fundamental human rights. The still-unresolved issue of
missing persons — an issue of a purely humanitarian
nature — and that of the enclaved of the Karpass
peninsula are in themselves an indication of the
enduring suffering of Cyprus. That not only should
point us towards the specifics of the solution to be
pursued, but also must guide our actions with regard to
managing the status quo. For instance, the United
Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP),
assigned the task of managing the status quo inflicted
30 years ago, should remain specific to the situation on
the ground.
The accession of Cyprus to the European Union,
in conjunction with the lack of an agreement aimed at
settling the Cyprus problem — despite our efforts and
our preference for a settlement prior to accession —
signifies the end of one era and the beginning of a new
one.
I firmly believe that the new context defined by
the accession of my country to the European Union and
by the expressed will of Turkey to advance on the
European path offers a unique opportunity and could
have a catalytic effect in reaching a settlement in
Cyprus. Our vocation is to be partners, not enemies.
Hence, in this new era, we call upon Turkey to join
us in turning the page and in seeking ways to discover
mutually beneficial solutions to the various aspects that
compose the Cyprus problem. The mere realization that
peace and stability in our region serve the interests of
both our countries is ample evidence to prove that what
unites us is stronger than what divides us.


The
election of Mr. Jean Ping to the presidency of the
General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session does honour
to our continent, to our subregion of Central Africa and
to his country, Gabon. I congratulate him sincerely on
behalf of my delegation. We are familiar with Mr.
Ping’s high sense of duty, his selfless dedication to his
work and his great skill, and we have no doubt that —
like his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Julian Hunte
of Saint Lucia — he will spare no effort to meet our
expectations.
To the Secretary-General we say how much we
appreciate his initiatives and his tireless efforts to
make the Organization more effective.
At the Millennium Summit, Member States made
solemn and very important commitments. Today,
despite the fact that some progress has been made in
implementing the Millennium Development Goals, the
situation remains troubling. The assessment of the
implementation of the Goals scheduled for 2005 is thus
of particular importance. Here, we support all
initiatives that would give fresh impetus to
international cooperation to combat poverty and
hunger. I am thinking in particular of the initiative of
His Excellency President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of
the Federative Republic of Brazil, which rightly
focuses on the Millennium Development Goals and on
the Monterrey Consensus. The African Union’s
Extraordinary Summit on Employment and Poverty
Alleviation in Africa, held on 8 and 9 September in
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, was also intended to
address those concerns.
In spite of all the problems that have hobbled the
Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations, the
resumption of negotiations this summer in Geneva
gives us some reason to hope for the establishment of
equitable rules of international trade. We continue to
hope for greater equity and solidarity among poor and
rich nations with a view to achieving globalization that
is fair. We therefore support the recommendations of
the World Commission on the Social Dimension of
Globalization.
To meet the Millennium Development Goals, we
also need peace and security — which, unfortunately,
are lacking in a number of regions. The situation in the
Middle East continues to concern us. Peace, that
fundamental aspiration, remains beyond the grasp of
46

the peoples of the region; it is our joint responsibility
to put in place the conditions for lasting peace.
In Africa, the attention of the international
community remains focused on the too-great number of
crises. To be sure, we can be pleased at recent
developments in the situation in Côte d’Ivoire,
following the Accra III summit, but we must continue
to work to make the process irreversible.
In the Sudan, the Darfur crisis continues to be of
great concern, in both its humanitarian and its political
dimensions. A greater mobilization by the international
community is required to support the efforts of the
African Union. The objective is to avoid a disaster and
to ensure peace for the people of the Sudan.
In our subregion of Central Africa, we were
pleased with the positive outcome on 12 July 2004 of
the national forum held in Sao Tome and Principe,
scheduled under the Memorandum of Understanding,
dated 23 July 2003, and concluded under the auspices
of the Economic Community of Central African States,
the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries, the
African Union, the United States of America and
Nigeria.
In the Central African Republic, where there is
still a peacekeeping force of the Central African
Economic and Monetary Community, supported
logistically by France, our hope is to see the
democratic process move forward and proceed to the
general elections which are scheduled for 2005.
We welcome the efforts of the international
community in Burundi — in particular, the South
African mediation — for the results achieved to date.
We call upon the political leaders of that country to
remain focused on the national interests. Unity and
development in Burundi depend on that.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
political life in the eastern part of the country in
particular has recently been marked by a number of
grave events such as the Ituri crisis, the Bukavu
rebellion and the Gatumba massacres. We renew our
support for the global and inclusive agreement, as well
as for the institutions for transition.
We call on the international community to
continue to pay all the attention required to that
country, and we support all initiatives that would
increase troop strength and the means of action of the
United Nations Organization Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is in that context
that we are pleased with today’s signature of the terms
of reference of the joint oversight mechanism between
the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.
That overview of the political situation in our
subregion, which includes a number of countries in
post-conflict situations, fully justifies the request of
Central Africa to have a United Nations office. We are
pleased with the existence of the United Nations
Standing Advisory Committee on Questions of
Security in Central Africa and, in particular, the work
given to that Committee. We wish to continue to have
the input of the Committee in its relations with the
competent bodies of the subregion, in light of what is
at stake.
Similarly, we expect implementation of the
conclusions of the multifaceted mission that was
dispatched to Central Africa in June 2003 by the
Secretary-General. We appreciate those conclusions as
being very relevant, especially those establishing
programmes for disarmament, demobilization and
reintegration to help consolidate the peace processes
taking place; helping to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS;
stopping the circulation of small arms and light
weapons; protecting the environment and creating
conditions for development in Central Africa.
In order to meet all of the challenges and to
establish all the conditions required for stability, we are
placing our hopes on the international conference for
peace, security, democracy and development in the
Great Lakes region, preparations for which are already
under way. That conference will undoubtedly be an
excellent opportunity to search for lasting solutions to
the recurrent crises that cause bloodshed in the region.
I reiterate my country’s willingness to make its
contribution to that process.
As you know, the Republic of the Congo is
among the countries in our subregion which is in a
post-conflict situation. Under the leadership of
President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Congo is
endeavouring at the same time, to consolidate peace
and to re-establish a comprehensive macroeconomic
equilibrium.
Among our current priorities, the question of
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
continues to be very important. Our national
programme concerning those issues will, for the 2004-
2006 period, involve more than 40,000 ex-combatants.
47

The efforts of the Government, which are supported —
and we appreciate that support — by the European
Union, the United Nations Development Programme
and the World Bank, will be continued. We would also
appreciate any other contribution that would help the
Congolese Government resolve that thorny issue.
Additionally, Congo, in hoping to benefit from
the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative, is
very sensitive to the decisions taken in Paris on 9 and
14 September 2004, respectively, by the Paris Club and
the donors. Here I reiterate the appreciation of my
Government for those efforts. Congo’s eligibility for
that Initiative will undoubtedly allow us to allocate a
majority of our resources for development and
therefore to follow up with what was contained in our
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, which we expect
will be validated by the International Monetary Fund
and the World Bank.
That would help us succeed in our efforts, within
our national plan, concerning good governance and
transparency in the management of our national affairs.
Therefore, in following up on those various objectives,
our country has joined the African Peer Review
Mechanism under the New Partnership for Africa’s
Development and we have signed on to the Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative.
Concerning the environment, we are involved in a
partnership with the international community
concerning the Congo Basin Initiative. Brazzaville will
shortly host a summit that will consider plans to
conserve the forests of this world heritage area. We
therefore welcome the support given to that plan by
France, the United Nations, the European Union, the
United States, Germany, South Africa and a number of
non-governmental organizations.
Congo reiterates its support for multilateralism.
We remain convinced that the United Nations is the
ideal framework for meeting the challenges that face
the world. But the world has changed. New challenges
are before us that require reforms that will allow the
United Nations to adapt itself to current missions and
the global configuration of the twenty-first century.
We therefore welcome the reform process
undertaken by the Secretary-General and are truly
hopeful regarding the recommendations of the high-
level panel which was set up to examine the principle
threats and challenges to collective peace and security
and to make proposals with respect to reform of the
international system.
Among the reforms expected, we firmly support
the idea of enlarging the Security Council in its two
components, namely, permanent and non-permanent
members. We must take into account — among other
things — the diversity of today’s world in order to
highlight the criteria of geographical representation
and of responsibility in the management of worldwide
affairs, without ever sacrificing effectiveness,
cohesion, transparency or credibility.
As was stated by the Secretary-General of the
United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, in his statement to
the General Assembly at the 3rd meeting, on
21 September, “today, more than ever, the world needs
an effective mechanism through which to seek common
solutions to common problems.” In order do this, we
must not only act together in complying with the rules
that we ourselves have implemented, but we must also
comply with the commitments we have made.


The
session of the General Assembly over which you will
preside, Sir, will be one of the most important in the
history of the United Nations. It will be a session
characterized by the necessary renewal of the United
Nations. The year 2005 will be decisive for the future
of multilateralism and of our global Organization.
The debate on Iraq and the spreading wave of
international terrorism have raised a series of questions
about the future of our collective security system. At
this session, the General Assembly has before it the
task of beginning an unprecedented reflection on the
changes our societies require of multilateral diplomacy.
Our efforts must result in new tools that will enable the
United Nations to find effective solutions to carry out
the lofty mission of tackling anew the tasks of
development, maintaining world peace and security,
promoting human rights and democracy and protecting
the environment — all under the rule of international
law.
As a result of recent debates, some have raised
their voices to assert that the international community
is fractured and even in conflict. It is curious that that
is happening at a time in the life of the world when
threats and challenges are more clearly shared by all
nations. The tasks that should unite us focus on the
fight against abject poverty, international terrorism,
organized crime syndicates, major epidemics, the
proliferation of arsenals of weapons of mass
destruction and the deterioration of the environment. In
order to put an end to those ills, concerted action and
commitment are required from all States. The reason is
obvious: the most complex threats we face do not have
any specific national origin, but they affect us all and
have ultimately worsened the quality of life in the
world and damaged the peace and well-being of our
citizens.
The United Nations was designed to put an end to
the scourge of wars between nations and to promote the
economic and social development of peoples. We face
phenomena of such magnitude and complexity that the
35

delegates who attended the San Francisco
Conference — despite their outstanding talent and
vision — could not have anticipated at the time. The
diplomats of our generation have the obligation of
envisioning a second phase, inaugurating a new chapter
of collective action to eradicate these dangerous
modern-day evils.
In Mexico’s view, the goal to which we should
aspire is not to rebuild the Organization from scratch or
to discard the United Nations Charter, with its rich
heritage of agreements and concepts. It would not be
responsible to abandon such essential tools as
legitimate individual or collective self-defence, as set
out in Article 51, and the establishment of a collective
security system. The only viable, rational and
necessary approach is to update the multilateral system
of cooperation and understanding that we have built
together.
It was on the basis of those considerations that
President Vicente Fox of Mexico, when he addressed
the General Assembly last year, made a robust appeal
for comprehensive reform of the United Nations.
Furthermore, in many meetings that he has held since
then with other heads of State or Government, he has
expressed considerable interest in moving forward —
with the urgency that the situation requires — towards
strengthening and revitalizing the United Nations.
That is why we have undertaken an effort of
active coordination aimed at reforming the United
Nations and strengthening multilateralism. Mexico,
together with 14 other countries, has begun an effort of
joint reflection to analyse the various components of
reform and to devise a diplomatic strategy to guide the
steady progress of United Nations reform.
We envision reform with an evolutionary
approach that would enable the United Nations to
tackle the most delicate challenges and threats of each
historical cycle, drawing on the resources and strengths
of all Member States in order to overcome the most
disturbing international phenomena. That exercise
should begin to bear fruit in the next 18 months.
Two thousand and five will be an appropriate
year to promote this ambitious project: there will be a
convergence of events that will enable us to revitalize
multilateral dialogue and interaction. First, in
December 2004, we will receive the report and the
recommendations of the Secretary-General’s High-
level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, which
will be of valuable assistance in guiding our
deliberations on reform of the system. It will be very
important that we examine those recommendations in
minute detail and that the General Assembly be the
central forum for discussing and adopting the new
mandates and changes that must be implemented in the
Organization. Likewise, next year we will have to
assess the progress made in implementing the
Millennium Declaration and the steps taken to follow
up the Monterrey Consensus on financing for
development.
That series of events in 2005 will give us an up-
to-date view of the state of the multilateral system and
of the issues that reform should address. With that
broad perspective, and so that we can live up to the
commitment and interest of all Member States, we will
need to ensure a balance between the security and
development agendas and their respective institutions
within the system. The General Assembly, the Security
Council and the Economic and Social Council must
work as part of an organic whole, not as entities that
are disconnected and sometimes even at odds in their
tasks, priorities and working methods.
The predominance of the Security Council has
resulted in growing disregard for the work of other
principal organs and has diminished their effectiveness.
This causes certain issues to be marginalized; then,
when they reach crisis level, they become matters for
which the Security Council becomes responsible. We
also must acknowledge that the overall process of
United Nations reform has been dominated — in fact,
paralysed — by the debate on restructuring the
Security Council.
Mexico believes that any Security Council reform
process should be governed by a set of common
objectives and criteria. After more than a decade of
work, we should ask ourselves why Security Council
reform has not succeeded. The debate has focused on
the number of seats, how they should be allocated to
each region and whether or not they should be
permanent seats. Mexico does not share that approach
because, paradoxically, the fundamental question that
has largely been ignored — which came to the fore
during the critical discussion on Iraq — is not how
many members there should be on the Security Council
and how many should be permanent; rather, it is what
kind of collective security system does the
international community need today, and what
36

mechanisms should be used to face new challenges
and, above all, to prevent conflicts.
The Security Council must create conditions that
will prevent the emergence of conflicts, particularly
through building and consolidating national institutions
and upholding the rule of law and respect for human
rights. The Council should also enhance its capacity to
consistently identify situations likely to endanger peace
and security. As a logical outcome of such an analysis,
we can then identify the changes needed in the Security
Council.
Mexico acknowledges the contributions of
Member States to the cause of peace, all of them
necessary. Our Organization, based on the legal
equality of States, requires the commitment and
support of all its Members, through their involvement
in decision-making. The creation of new permanent
seats would lead to greater concentration of the
international decision-making process than is now the
case. We cannot ignore the fact that permanent
members of the Council already have more influence
than the rest of the membership. Mexico considers that
this should be restricted and not further increased.
Mexico supports collective decision-making as
the source of the legitimacy and effectiveness of our
actions in favour of peace and security. In that regard,
we favour a regionally equitable and balanced
enlargement of the number of elected members, based
on modalities determined within the regional groups.
That would stimulate wider participation in the
decision-making process and would ensure that more
countries, not fewer, can contribute their views in the
Council.
Thus, Mexico would support an increase in the
number of elected members and an extension of their
term of office, with the option of immediate re-election
for those States that have demonstrated, through their
performance, a strong commitment to the purposes of
the Organization. That would help us to create a
genuine mechanism for accountability, founded on
Article 24 of the Charter.
As part of this integral vision of reform, it is
crucial also to strengthen the role of the Economic and
Social Council, which supports the Security Council
and the General Assembly in the decision-making
process. Conflict prevention depends upon timely
attention to and action on problems that lead to a lack
of access to development. It is undeniable that peace
and security are anchored on the well-being of our
peoples. Therefore, we believe that the Economic and
Social Council should work as a coordinating body to
steer the financing of development and to articulate the
follow-up of commitments stemming from United
Nations summits and conferences on social and
economic development.
It is essential to have a more committed
involvement of the international financial institutions
in the development process. In that regard, the
Economic and Social Council should play a pivotal
role linking the Bretton Woods institutions, the World
Trade Organization (WTO), the private sector and civil
society.
Another issue that is worth our attention in the
reform process is the Commission on Human Rights,
which has essential responsibilities regarding universal
respect for individual rights and fundamental freedoms.
Mexico considers that the work of the Commission is
vital, although its procedural weakness in advancing its
objectives is clear. For this reason, its methods must be
urgently reformulated. Mexico is fostering regional
dialogue on this issue.
The ongoing effort in favour of United Nations
reform requires a vision of collective well-being and
enhanced political understanding, in order to prevent
“threats without a passport” from plunging the world
into a spiral of confrontation, violence and despair.
Here, we should recognize that the United Nations has
already taken some first steps in the right direction,
particularly in the fight against terrorism and the non-
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. As part
of the reform, it will be necessary to carry these actions
further.
In this context, Mexico is ready to continue
working with the institutional structures of the
Organization, particularly the Counter-Terrorism
Committee and the non-proliferation machinery. We
will continue to promote the protection of human rights
and fundamental freedoms in the fight against
terrorism as the only way to guarantee the legitimacy
and efficacy of that fight. My country will also follow
closely the cooperation initiatives and regimes geared
to control the export of nuclear materials; and we will
stress the need to strengthen efforts in the urgent cause
of disarmament.
Other positive steps have been taken in recent
years to confront the grave challenges resulting from
37

humanitarian crises and genocide. In this context,
Mexico concurs with the concept of the responsibility
to protect, in the sense that sovereignty entails a State’s
obligation towards its population, and that, when it
fails to fulfil it, the international community has the
duty to collectively assist in the protection of
individuals from serious human rights violations. In the
light of recent regrettable humanitarian tragedies, it is
of the utmost importance for the General Assembly to
discuss this concept thoroughly, in order to elaborate
guidelines for its practical application within the
Organization.
Bearing in mind the scope of the reform
challenge facing us, Mexico would favour the
convening of a general conference with the aim of
updating and strengthening our Organization. In
contrast to the consideration that has been given to
other issues of international relevance, such as trade,
population and the environment, we have not held any
open-ended rounds of negotiations in the last six
decades on issues pertaining to international politics
and the progressive development of diplomacy. The
changes that have taken place in the world in that
period demand a comprehensive exercise that should
encompass the renewal of our commitments, review of
collective security structures and their performance,
above all, promotion of economic development.
Throughout President Fox’s administration,
Mexico has clearly shown its commitment to the
strengthening of multilateralism. We have done so as
an elected member of the Security Council, as a
promoter of international conventions on topics such as
corruption, persons with disabilities and migrants, by
furthering initiatives to foster the equitable and
sustainable development of global areas and by hosting
high-level conferences such as the Monterrey
Conference on Financing for Development and the
Summit of the Americas.
Furthermore, as an unequivocal sign of our
interest, our concerns and our commitment, Mexico is
decisively promoting the revitalization of the
multilateral system through the Group of Friends for
the Reform of the United Nations.
It is in that constructive spirit that Mexico is
taking part in this session of the General Assembly. We
are certain that under your able leadership,
Mr. President, this session will be remembered as the
catalyst for one of the most important and dominant
chapters in the life of our Organization.


We
all pinned great hopes on the advent of the twenty-first
century with regard to a more stable and secure world
and sustainable development for humanity. We were all
eager to expand the positive achievements of the
twentieth century, which witnessed rapid technological
and social progress, the beginning of the space age, the
advancement of democracy and the globalization of the
planet. We all wanted to leave behind the destructive
impact on human history of two world wars, continued
blood conflicts, millions of refugees, poverty and the
destitution common in most countries of the world.
It had seemed that, at this junction of centuries
and millennia, humanity would rediscover and
appreciate more deeply the value of a world without
wars or violence and the significance of solidarity and
mutual understanding, of true human rights and respect
of the views of others. Now, however, it has become
clear that it is impossible to comprehend the dynamics
of global development or to find adequate answers to
modern challenges without the United Nations as a
leader.
The impression had been that, in the new century,
our civilization would embark on the path towards a
global society where harmony would prevail over
hatred and stability put an end to suspicion — a society
where the agreed rules of conduct set out in
international law, binding for all, would stand in the
way of isolationism and separatism; where all
internationally relevant issues, including the most
urgent ones, would be resolved at the negotiating table;
and where the use of force would not be the rule but,
rather, the exception, and only when sanctioned by
collective decisions of a capable and representative
Security Council.
Unfortunately, the twenty-first century has
brought more new and menacing challenges than
solutions to the numerous problems faced by
humankind. The number of wars and military conflicts
has not diminished but increased. The peaceful
resolution of the inter-Tajik conflict achieved under
United Nations auspices is more the exception than the
rule in the context of the efforts to achieve peace
undertaken by the United Nations.
The world’s peoples increasingly feel that the
world is in a state of permanent war rather than
working towards development. Every day we hear
about the dangers of the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction and the struggle against international
terrorism. These are urgent problems, and we cannot
but be concerned about them since weapons of mass
destruction are capable of destroying hundreds of
thousands of human lives, while acts of terror can
destabilize entire countries.
For those reasons, we are firmly resolved to
transform Central Asia into a region free of nuclear
weapons. The recent tragic events in the town of
Beslan, in the Russian Federation, are clear evidence
9

that the forces of international terrorism are, day by
day, becoming more daring and continue to challenge
the whole of humankind.
Tajikistan resolutely condemns the acts of
violence perpetrated against defenceless women and
children in North Ossetia and appeals to the
international community to undertake urgent collective
measures to combat this scourge of the twenty-first
century.
It is comforting that the international solidarity
demonstrated in the struggle against such a
bloodthirsty and treacherous enemy as terrorism is
gaining in strength. Tajikistan has been actively
waging, at the regional and international levels, a
multifaceted struggle against the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.
At the same time, in order to definitively put an
end to terrorism, it is very important to reach a
universal understanding of its nature and
manifestations in order to eliminate any obstacles that
stand in the way of the development and adoption of a
comprehensive convention on international terrorism.
While we can rightly be proud of having created,
within a short period of time, a united anti-terrorist
coalition of States, unfortunately we cannot say that we
have achieved the same degree of solidarity in the fight
against poverty and destitution.
For decades, States with low levels of income
have not been able to free themselves from their
destructive debt burden so as to be able to enjoy the
advantages of civilization. For instance, Tajikistan,
which lived through a civil conflict, continues to face
urgent economic and social problems, despite having
made some economic progress. Eighty per cent of the
population of Tajikistan still lives below the poverty
line. Because of the lack of access to the sea, many
regions of our country are cut off from the outside
world, which results in our paying higher prices for
imported goods and increased transit fees. Forty per
cent of all budget revenues go to servicing external
debt, which limits the Government’s capacity to meet
the urgent needs of the population.
Writing off a portion of the accumulated debt
would make it possible for those countries to invest in
education, health care and environmental protection,
and, in the case of Tajikistan, could be helpful in
rehabilitating the social sphere, which has suffered as a
result of the civil conflict and natural disasters.
However, the idea of exchanging debt for sustainable
development has not yet garnered solid support among
creditors. In that area, we still encounter inertia and a
lack of political will.
It is clear to us that the resolution of political
issues, including those related to international security,
depends, to a great extent, on social and economic
development and on the achievement by all countries
of the Millennium Goals.
In a globalized world, achieving the Millennium
Goals will require the utmost solidarity as well as
interaction among the international community as a
whole, with the United Nations as a leading
coordinator, in its capacity as the most universal and
representative international Organization.
The key to success lies in developing a common
and comprehensive approach to addressing poverty-
related issues, enhancing the means available as well as
seeking innovative ways of securing financing for
development, eliminating ecological threats,
addressing demographic problems, ensuring an
equitable international finance and trade system, and
dealing with the aftermath of natural disasters. Failing
that, the situation will remain the same: a quarter of the
world’s population will continue to prosper, using more
than half of the world’s resources, while the majority
of the world’s population, finding themselves
marginalized, will remain mere observers of global
economic development.
The ever-increasing severity of these problems
makes them global threats to international peace and
security. For that reason, we support the Secretary-
General, Kofi Annan, in his efforts to restore the
balance of priorities on the agenda of the international
community.
The international community should also strive to
ensure maximum coordination of the actions taken at
the global level in terms of monetary, financial and
international trade policies. In that connection, it is
important to strengthen the role of the United Nations
as the key force for political mobilization in those
areas. That requires, on the basis of the Monterrey
consensus, a further reinforcement of the interaction
among the United Nations, the Bretton Woods
institutions and the World Trade Organization, which
Tajikistan hopes to join in the near future.
10

The issues of economic rehabilitation, poverty
eradication, improved living standards for the
population and long-term sustainable development are
among the top priorities for Tajikistan, as an economy
in transition.
At the same time, for a number of reasons,
Tajikistan still needs the assistance of the international
community in supporting national efforts to ensure
long-term sustainable development in the country. We
appreciate the continued efforts of the donor countries
and United Nations agencies such as the United
Nations Development Programme, the United Nations
Children’s Fund, the World Food Programme and
others to assist vulnerable segments of the population,
as well as their support in the ongoing transition to a
socially oriented market economy.
Given our own experience, we support the
priority attention given by the United Nations to
increasing the effectiveness of the assistance rendered
to countries in post-conflict situations and to receiving
feedback in that area. There is no doubt that the United
Nations is the key player in providing timely and
coordinated responses to post-conflict situations.
The success of the United Nations in this area
depends to a great extent on a qualitative interaction
with host Governments in the area of reinforcing
national potential, the introduction of effective
instruments and mechanisms for the coordination and
mobilization of resources, and increased interaction
with the Bretton-Woods institutions in the context of a
joint assessment of their needs and specific project
activities.
In this regard, it is noteworthy that one of the
lessons learned from the peaceful settlement of the
inter-Tajik conflict is the need for donor countries to be
active not only during the crisis but also in the post-
conflict period. I am convinced that strengthening the
foundation of peace and stability in countries living
through conflict requires not only humanitarian
assistance but also actual help in addressing economic
problems and support for countries’ efforts to create a
dynamic and stable economy. As a rule, these kinds of
investments, within the framework of a peaceful
process, turn out to be instrumental in strengthening
young democracies born out of conflict. There is no
doubt that the parliamentary elections to be held in
Tajikistan in early 2005 will prove once again the
vitality and irreversible nature of the peace process in
Tajikistan and the robustness of the country’s
democratic institutions.
Achieving ecologically sustainable development
on the global, regional and national levels remains an
issue of top priority. Tajikistan intends to continue to
contribute to the implementation of the relevant
decisions of Johannesburg and other international
forums. The 2005-2015 International Decade for
Action, “Water for Life”, to be launched on 22 March
2005, was initiated by our country and is expected to
combine efforts undertaken by Governments, the
United Nations, international organizations, civil
society and the private sector. These efforts are aimed
at identifying effective ways of achieving the
internationally agreed goals in the area of fresh water
resources, developing strategies, programmes and laws
to protect water environments and increasing
investment and voluntary donor contributions, two
activities associated with ensuring access to fresh
water to all persons in need. We ask the Governments
of all countries, as well as United Nations agencies, to
undertake practical activities within this decade. This
is the key to success, and it will require a great deal of
work.
In some regions of the world, the international
community is faced not only with the problem of
conflicts and wars that interfere with long-term
development, but also with illicit drug trafficking,
which poses a threat to civil society. We cannot help
being concerned with the fact that global demand for
prohibited drugs is not decreasing. For instance, the
volume of criminal transit of narcotics via Tajikistan
constitutes a serious threat to our social, political and
economic stability as well as to the security of the
region as a whole. Afghanistan remains a major
supplier of narcotics. Their production this year has set
a record.
The President of Tajikistan, Mr. Emomali
Rakhmonov, regards the struggle against illicit drugs as
one of the top priorities for our country. Thanks to the
cooperation with the United Nations and interaction
within Shanghai Cooperation Organization of the last
five years, Tajikistan has become one of the leading
countries in the world in terms of narcotics
interdiction. Over this period, the law enforcement
bodies of Tajikistan and the Russian border guards
have confiscated about 40 tons of narcotics, with
heroin constituting more than half of this total. As a
result, millions of dollars have been removed from
11

circulation and hundreds of thousands of people the
world over have been saved from narcotics
dependency.
According to Antonio Maria Costa, Executive
Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime, Tajikistan sets a good example for other
countries as to how one can successfully struggle
against drugs. The achievements of Tajikistan in this
area are considered as a good basis for strengthening
the struggle against the narcotics threat, but we are
combating the results rather than the roots of the
problem.
In autumn 2005, heads of State and Government
will meet in this General Assembly Hall to discuss
progress in achieving the Millennium Development
Goals. We attach great importance to this event, which
coincides with the sixtieth anniversary of the
foundation of the United Nations. We expect this
forthcoming event to give the necessary political
impetus to the international community in its progress
towards the achievement through combined efforts of
the Millennium Development Goals in the interest of a
more stable, just and prosperous world.


I stand
before the General Assembly of the United Nations
with an equal measure of pride and humility.
Of the more than 190 nations that make up the
United Nations, Antigua and Barbuda is among the
smallest in population and land mass. In the face of
these strikingly modest statistics, my humility in
standing at this renowned and universally respected
podium will be readily understood. The fact that
21

Antigua and Barbuda is accorded the privilege to address
the United Nations today is obvious cause for pride.
On a personal note, I have just completed my first
six months as Prime Minister in the first term of the
party that was elected to govern Antigua and Barbuda
on 23 March of this year. It is, therefore, a particular
pleasure and a special personal privilege for me to be
afforded this opportunity to take the podium at the
fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly.
I take this opportunity to express my appreciation
to the Secretary-General for the kind sentiments he
graciously extended on the formation of my
Government. Considering that a single party had ruled
Antigua and Barbuda throughout the life of our 23-year
old nation, and for some considerable time prior to
that, my leadership and my Government are still in a
tender state of infancy. I therefore trust that, should I
be guilty of any lapse in protocol during my remarks,
you will blame it on my innocence.
The removal of a long-entrenched Government
makes 2004 a year of dramatic change and intimidating
challenge for Antigua and Barbuda. The United
Nations human development index ranks Antigua and
Barbuda in the high development scale. By virtue of
our per-capita income, Antigua and Barbuda is
designated a middle-income country.
Though it is self-evident that all countries are not
created equal, it is a fundamental purpose of the United
Nations to ensure a level playing field in the arena in
which small as well as large nations of the world
engage one another. I say this despite overwhelming
empirical evidence that size and might often come into
play without subtlety, without apology and sometimes
without sufficiently vigorous challenge in the affairs of
the United Nations.
The structure of the Security Council dramatizes
the reality that one nation, one vote, still has its
limitations. In this context, we might be tempted to
accept, as Nobel Laureate V. S. Naipul asserts in the
opening line of his book, A Bend in the River: “The
world is what it is”. I submit that the overarching
mission of the United Nations is to defy the status quo
and to work unrelentingly to transform the world from
what it is into what it can be. The logical and
particularly relevant concomitance to all of this is that
a fundamental function of the United Nations is to
assist small Member States like Antigua and Barbuda
to be all that we can be. We recognize that the United
Nations has been making every conceivable effort to
meet this mandate, most notably so under the
stewardship of our indomitable Secretary-General, His
Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan.
Not surprisingly, small societies like those of the
English-speaking Caribbean have become casualties,
not beneficiaries, of globalization and of the new world
economic order. The United Nations acknowledged this
in the Millennium Declaration. The Declaration
concedes that, while globalization offers great
opportunities, its benefits are very unevenly shared,
while its costs are unevenly distributed. It recognized
that developing countries and countries with economies
in transition face special difficulties in responding to
the challenges of globalization.
The Millennium Declaration defined the need for
policies and measures at the global level that correspond
to the needs of developing countries and economies in
transition and that are formulated and implemented
with their effective participation. It recognized a
collective responsibility to uphold the principles of
human dignity, equality and equity at the global level.
It affirmed a determination to deal comprehensively
and effectively with the debt problems of low and
middle-income developing countries through various
national and international measures designed to make
their debt sustainable in the long term.
Still, the reality confronts us that the views of all
other United Nations Member States are outweighed by
those of the five permanent members of the Security
Council.
Moreover, the world saw, not all that long ago,
effective marginalization of the United Nations in
defiance of rational concerns, strongly expressed, of
the general membership of the United Nations. I have
no desire to be trampled underfoot by the elephants
engaged in the historic battle that raged in this forum
before it moved to its still active theatre in the Middle
East earlier this year. I am, however, compelled to
wonder by what process the United Nations appears to
have ruled out a negotiated resolution of the ongoing
war in Iraq as an option.
It is lamentable that, in meeting the unique needs
of vulnerable small States and microeconomies, the
United Nations is routinely sidelined in international
trading relationships and development processes. The
United Nations is not recognized as a key catalyst in
defining the world economic order and international
22

trading arrangements in the twenty-first century. That
agenda is understood to be directed by entities such as
the World Trade Organization, the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the
Financial Action Task Force, the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Two of those
organizations are assemblies of a small number of
wealthy nations that do not necessarily attach adequate
priority to the vulnerability of small States and
economies in transition.
We are not all convinced that those organizations,
whose decisions can well determine the destiny of
small States like Antigua and Barbuda — and the now
desolate Grenada and Haiti — are sufficiently responsive
to the special needs of small Caribbean States.
Indeed, the instances in which small countries of
the Caribbean have been targets of the OECD and the
mighty United States are vivid in our consciousness.
Super Power intervention in traditional arrangements
between Europe and the Caribbean for bananas and
sugar has been no less devastating, and it has certainly
been farther reaching than Hurricane Ivan’s savage
demolition of Grenada. The OECD offensive against
what were termed “harmful tax jurisdictions”,
manifestly discriminated against international financial
centres in the Caribbean. Our responses to this
challenge were responsible and effective.
We would like to think that the English-speaking
Caribbean countries are model nations in the family of
man. We represent a zone of peace in a world shattered
by internecine and international wars. We maintain
exemplary parliamentary democracies. With a few sad
exceptions, we in the Caribbean change our
Governments by the ballot, and by no other means.
Though we are small, we are overwhelming in
human worth. The Commonwealth Caribbean gave
Bob Marley to the world. We gave Nobel Laureates
Arthur Lewis, Derek Walcott and Vidia Naipaul to the
world. We have given our music to the world in the
form of reggae, calypso, soca and steel band. We have
enriched the cuisines of the world. We have given the
fastest female track athletes to the world. We have
contributed to the standard of academia around the
world through the export of many of our finest minds.
We have been blessed with the most desirable
beaches in the world, and we welcome the world to
share our beaches and our incomparable natural
environment. Our islands represent green points of
light on a globe convulsed by callous attitudes to the
environment among certain developed countries, and
among countries in transition, as well.
Small though our nations may be, we are mighty
warriors in strong and effective alliances with the
United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other
nations in the war against the international narcotics
syndicates.
I deem it my country’s civic responsibility to
remind this body of our duty to fulfil our role as
outlined in the preamble of the United Nations Charter,
to be the central area for harmonizing the actions of
nations in achieving international cooperation in
solving issues of a humanitarian nature.
Today two nations within the Caribbean region,
Grenada and Haiti, have been devastated by natural
disaster. Some 90 per cent of Grenada’s housing stock
has been destroyed. Civil society is in deep trauma.
The economy has been wiped out and the Government
is completely immobilized. This means that there is an
ineffective authority.
More than 1,000 persons have just died in Haiti
in the wake of Hurricane Jean, with the figure expected
to double in days. The dead are being buried in mass
graves to prevent a health epidemic. Homes and crops
have been destroyed, with floodwater lines on
buildings measuring up to 10 feet high. Survivors in
Haiti’s third largest city, Gonaives, are hungry, thirsty and
increasingly desperate. United Nations peacekeepers and
aid agencies are stretched to the limit.
Grenada and Haiti are now suffering a condition
comparable to a massive military bombardment.
Against this backdrop, I urge the United Nations —
every nation, large and small — to intervene in those
two Caribbean countries devastated by recent
hurricanes. They are certifiable disaster areas.
An adequate response from all of us, and even
more so from the developed countries, to the plight of
Grenada and Haiti would be a quantum leap to recovery
and reconstruction for them and the best option to ease
the suffering of their battered and distressed people. We
must act quickly. We must act now.
If I may be so bold, I would like to say that my
country, Antigua and Barbuda, is a veritable United
Nations in microcosm. It has become home to a
relatively larger proportion of immigrants from
Caribbean countries than has any other Caribbean
23

State. On any day, on any street in St. John’s, Antigua
and Barbuda’s capital, you will hear virtually every
Caribbean inflection, English and Hispanic. You will
also hear accents from China, Syria, Lebanon, Europe
and Africa. Indeed, we are celebrating Antigua and
Barbuda’s unique diversity with the construction of a
Caribbean Festival Park that will be a permanent
showcase and celebration of the essence of the entire
Caribbean region.
I have chosen to use this opportunity to urge the
United Nations General Assembly to petition powerful
nations and agencies of the world for a review of the
policy of penalizing small States that achieve a
measure of success in the process of guiding their
economies to growth and their citizens to better lives.
Is it not ironic that, only in the area of development
funding, achieving “graduation” is rewarded with
punishment? Development funding dries up; technical
aid is more difficult to access when small States begin
to show signs of prosperity. The effect of this is really
to pull out the carpet from under small States the
moment they stand up. Small developing States will
never be insulated against external shocks.
The international security measures mandated by
America’s post-9/11 Patriot Act have inflicted an
inordinate financial burden on the small economies of
Caribbean member States. We have been compelled to
finance security infrastructure for which we had no
provisions. With intensified security concerns in the
United States, Caribbean countries are confronted with
increasing waves of deported felons from the United
States. This carries the risk that, among these
deportees, there might well be prime recruits for
organized crime and narco-trafficking. Caribbean
societies are simply not equipped to respond
effectively to those challenges.
Among member countries of the Organization of
Eastern Caribbean States, Antigua and Barbuda is
considered to be relatively affluent. The grim reality is
that Antigua and Barbuda is confronted with an
economy that has been experiencing sustained decline.
The country has been accumulating crippling debt. We
are uncovering disturbing levels of unemployment,
particularly among our young people. This can well place
a significant proportion of our youth at serious risk.
Many of these concerns are common to small
States of the Caribbean. Policies and rules are made in
organizations controlled by the powerful few. This
brings us to the contradiction that, as small States strive to
be all that we can be, we are penalized for our success.
Policy makers in the developed world, donor
countries and multilateral donor agencies should not
take our natural and physical attributes as barometers
of our economic and social development.
In this age of globalization, where the emphasis
is on bigness, being small is definitely a disadvantage
of major magnitude. Small economies cannot easily
diversify production. Jobs are concentrated in a limited
number of industries — namely, agriculture, tourism
and services. Tragically, we are now encountering a
situation where our unemployed young people are
easily induced into the drug trade.
Given that the Caribbean region is a recognized
drug trans-shipment point between Latin America and
the United States and Europe, the attraction of easy
money and effective marketing to youth by drug dons
make this job opportunity very attractive to the youth
of the Caribbean region.
My party, the United Progressive Party, campaigned
on a platform of transparency, accountability and
integrity in every functional aspect of government, and
throughout the society as a whole. As a demonstration of
my Government’s seriousness in combating corruption, I
tabled anticorruption and integrity legislation in our
Parliament during our first six months in Government.
My Government and the majority of the people of
Antigua and Barbuda are committed to every option
that will support our dedication to good governance in
our country.
I challenge the United Nations to stand by the
tenets of the Millennium Declaration, which call for
equity among nations, large and small. There is a
compelling reason for this call.
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries are
currently engaged in three separate sets of negotiations
that will seriously impact the economies of our
countries and the welfare of our people. To date, there
have been no concessions afforded to the special needs
of small States in our negotiations with the European
Union, on the Free Trade Area of the Americas and
with the World Trade Organization. Not everyone
engaged in these negotiations appears to be in
sympathy with the fundamental goals of the United
Nations Millennium Declaration.
24

If affirmative action is not to be proffered to
Antigua and Barbuda and other small States of the
Caribbean region and the world, let us at least be
spared punitive suspension of whatever special
facilities enabled us to move our economies forward.
Antigua and Barbuda thanks this General
Assembly for the opportunity to propose that, in
keeping with the letter and the spirit of the United
Nations Millennium Declaration, small States, such as
those of CARICOM, should be afforded the promised
opportunity to be beneficiaries of globalization and the
new world economic architecture, instead of leaving us
casualties, as we must now be accurately described.