I take this opportunity to congratulate the
President of the General Assembly on his election. I
am confident that his vision and energy will guide this
session to a successful conclusion.
I also thank Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, who led the
fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly with
distinction and efficiency.
I commend Mr. Kofi Annan, the esteemed
Secretary-General of this Organization, for the
thoughtful recommendations which he has put forward
in his report to the Millennium Summit entitled “We
the peoples: the role of the United Nations in the
twenty-first century”. His vision and stewardship have
proved to be vital factors in advancing the work and
mission of the United Nations at this critical time in the
history of the Organization and the world.
I join the previous speakers in welcoming the
nation of Tuvalu as the 189th and newest Member of
the United Nations family. Our newest entrant is also
the smallest Member country of the Organization, with
a population of 10,000 and a land area of nine square
miles. It was very pleasing to my delegation to see the
leader of that nation proudly take his place among the
other leaders of the world in what was the largest
gathering of heads of State or Government ever
assembled in one place, the Millennium Summit. There
is a special affinity between the countries of the
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Tuvalu. We
are among the smallest constituents of the
Organization. We share similar historical and
constitutional experiences. We face the same
environmental threats. We look forward, with
confidence, to a future involving the creative
29

utilization of the phenomenal developments in the area
of information technology.
My country's Prime Minister, The Right
Honourable Sir James F. Mitchell, joined other leaders
from the Caribbean Community, of which he is the
current Chairman, in denouncing the growing
insensitivity towards and disregard for the interests of
small developing countries on the part of the powerful
in today's world. In his address to the Millennium
Summit the Prime Minister noted that while our
religious heritage has taught us how to reach across the
boundaries of nations through the very inspirational
guideline, “love your neighbour as yourself”, small and
vulnerable island States such as our own are being
victimized by the application of international rules
crafted by the mighty to serve their own purposes,
oblivious to the concerns, and consequences for the
well-being, of others. We are all affected by the
modalities of the global village which we inhabit,
through revolutionary developments in communication
technology. Indeed, we have all become neighbours,
and yet the competition among the world's peoples has
become fiercer, with the rich countries surging ahead
and widening the gap with poor countries. This gap is
now related not only to material wealth, but also,
frighteningly, to the ability of less developed countries
to compete in the accepted medium of communication,
because of the existence of an ever-widening digital
divide.
The Millennium Summit concluded with the
adoption by world leaders of a Declaration affirming
the importance of the United Nations and the need to
strengthen its peacekeeping operations, as well as
making commitments to targeted reductions in poverty,
the levels of inhuman living conditions experienced by
impoverished nations around the world, the incidence
and spread of HIV/AIDS and the provision of basic
education for all children. On the other hand, we are
aware that the current world order is rapidly falling out
of step with today's realities and that there is a pressing
need for the international community to come together
and address the numerous challenges before us.
We must acknowledge that efforts to address old
issues, like world poverty and its distribution, as well
as new ones arising from globalization, the rapid
growth of information technology and the resulting
digital divide, the consequences of the environmental
degradation of our planet, HIV/AIDS and gender
issues, among others, have largely been inadequate.
Our common and daunting task is therefore to ensure
that this globalized world will be beneficial for all and
not just for some. More than ever before, there is an
urgent need to foster a consciousness of universal
moral values in order to deal with present-day
problems, all of which are assuming an increasingly
global dimension. The promotion of peace and human
rights, the settling of armed conflicts, both within and
among States, the protection of immigrants, the
safeguarding of the environment, the battle against
terrible diseases, the fight against drug and arms
trafficking, money laundering and economic and
political corruption are issues which no nation,
regardless of how wealthy or powerful, can
successfully address alone. They concern the entire
human community and must be addressed and resolved
through common universal efforts.
My country, a small State in the Caribbean, has
always been aware of its interdependence with other
countries for its prosperity and security. We have
moved to advance our interests through multilateral
cooperation in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean
States (OECS), CARICOM, the Organization of
American States (OAS), the Association of Caribbean
States (ACS), the Commonwealth and the institutions
of the United Nations system. For a small developing
country like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,
multilateralism is not an option; it is an integral part of
our policies and programmes to enhance our standard
of living and create a better life for all of our people. I
therefore reiterate my country's commitment to and
support for the work of the United Nations and its
agencies in this regard.
The Millennium Summit provided an appropriate
opportunity for the assembled leaders to rededicate
themselves to the attempt to have an impact on and
change for the better the quality of life of the world's
poorest people, who are trapped in a vicious cycle of
deprivation and suffering. The Summit will have
proved worthwhile if it is remembered not as a highprofile event to make the transition to a new
millennium, but as an event that made the transition
from words to deeds. The times demand nothing less.
The security, welfare and development of people
must, in the context of any new world order, dominate
the attention of the world's multilateral financial
institutions, as well as of the United Nations. We must
undertake sustained and concerted efforts to free our
people from poverty, hunger, illiteracy and disease.
30

While micro-credit and other poverty-alleviation
programmes have been successful, much needs to be
done to eradicate poverty. In this era of plenty, millions
still suffer from hunger.
We had curbed old diseases like malaria, cholera
and tuberculosis, but they have reappeared in new and
drug-resistant forms. Deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS
are spreading at an alarming pace. The leaders of the
Caribbean Community have placed combating this
pandemic at the top of the regional agenda. This
scourge has already claimed the lives of over 10
million people. It is projected to claim the lives of over
200 million by the year 2010, the majority of them in
sub-Saharan Africa.
The developed world is not spared, either.
Worldwide figures indicate that 34 million people are
living with the disease, over 18 million have died since
the beginning of the epidemic and over 13 million
children have become orphaned. In the Caribbean
region, the disease now threatens the human resource
development efforts of CARICOM and could reverse
the social and economic gains of the countries in that
subregion. The prevalence rate in the wider Caribbean
is estimated at 172 cases per 100,000 people, the
highest rate of prevalence in the Americas, and second,
in terms of the growth rate, to sub-Saharan Africa. A
United Nations AIDS survey in 1999 showed that over
360,000 adults and children in our region were living
with the disease. There is no immunity. International
cooperation in the medical, ethical and legal fields
must be intensified if the disease is to be contained.
We cannot preach about human rights and the
universality of the United Nations while at the same
time ignoring the aspirations of over 23 million people
in the Republic of China on Taiwan. It is the view of
the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines delegation that
the time has come when serious consideration should
be given to the eligibility of the Republic of China on
Taiwan to become a Member of the United Nations. In
this regard, my Government is urging that the subject
be placed on the agenda of the fifty-sixth session of the
General Assembly. We urge every Member State of this
noble Organization to give its full support to this
worthy initiative for a country whose democratic
credentials cannot be challenged.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines welcomes the
progress made in the Middle East peace process thus
far, and expresses the hope that through dialogue,
compromise and goodwill, the dream of lasting peace
may become a reality.
If countries like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
are to survive globalization, the international
community must give careful and urgent consideration
to the following measures: the revitalization of growth
in developed countries; the lowering of interest rates;
access to the world's markets for the products of
developing countries; the reduction of debt and the
debt-service burden; the reversal of the deteriorating
situation in the marketing arrangements for primary
products produced in the developing countries;
economic diversification; increasing the levels of
official development assistance and humanitarian aid;
reductions in net capital flows from bilateral and
multilateral sources; and combating the negative
consequences of the graduation of some countries like
ours, by international financial institutions, from
concessionary funding arrangements.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines shares the
concerns of other developing countries with regard to
the general decline in official development assistance
and the flow of foreign direct investment to developing
countries. We look forward to the consultation on
financing for development planned for 2001.
The changing world environment dictates the
need for the revitalization and restructuring of the
various organs of the United Nations organizations, but
my Government attaches very high priority to the
revitalization and strengthening of the role of the
United Nations in promoting international cooperation
for sound development, including economic
development. We share the view that the United
Nations should be encouraged to develop its full
potential in the area of international economic
cooperation and should be endowed with the requisite
resources to contribute to solving the serious economic
and social problems facing developing countries in
their efforts to achieve sustained economic growth and
development.
We commend those donor countries that have
made financial contributions to the South Pacific
Applied Geoscience Commission to assist the
development of an environmental vulnerability index,
and call for the early adoption by the international
community of a vulnerability index that would serve as
a guide for multilateral financial institutions and the
31

United Nations on the specific vulnerabilities of
developing countries.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, like other
small island developing States in the strategically
located Caribbean, continues to be plagued by the
endemic problems of the production, trafficking and
consumption of illicit drugs and psychotropic
substances. This modern day scourge continues to pose
serious problems which threaten to destroy the social
and moral fabric of our communities. My Government
is fully committed to the ongoing process of
cooperation with other countries to counter these
illegal activities. In this regard, I wish to reiterate in
this forum our complete support for the Multilateral
Evaluation Mechanism (MEM), developed by the
member countries of the Organization of American
States (OAS) to monitor countries' cooperation in the
international fight against the drug trade. I also take
this opportunity to urge that more resources be
allocated through collaborative efforts by the
international community to encourage farmers to keep
away from the production of illicit crops.
In his address to the Millennium Summit, the
Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
spoke of the outstanding and invaluable record of good
governance and respect for human rights and
democracy in the entire Caribbean region. These are
aspects of our society of which we are eternally proud.
Recently in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, our
constitutional democracy was put to the test through
open expressions of dissent, but withstood the ordeal
through dialogue and compromise. My Government is
pleased to put on record its appreciation to the
Vincentian people for upholding democratic values and
respecting the supremacy of the constitution and the
rule of law as fundamental principles by which our
beloved country exists and governs itself. I also wish to
express gratitude to CARICOM, to the Organization of
Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), to the churches, to
the National Youth Council, to the Chamber of Industry
and Commerce, to the Employers' Federation and to
many individuals and other institutions for their
invaluable contributions in bringing about a swift
resolution of the matter. My Government has long
recognized the urgent need for constitutional reform
and will continue to work with other interested parties
to bring about meaningful change that would seek,
among other things, to strengthen the foundations of
our democracy. As full members of this body, we have
seen, at close quarters, the importance of constitutional
reform in the promotion of democracy, stability and
economic development.
We also recognize that constitutional reform is
crucial to strengthening our own integration processes
within the Caribbean Community, including the
establishment of a Caribbean court of justice, to be,
inter alia, the authoritative body adjudicating on
matters pertaining to the interpretation and
implementation of the provisions of the Treaty of
Chaguaramas, which established CARICOM.
Many matters of profound importance to Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines and the Caribbean
Community as a whole are included in the agenda of
this fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly. These
include: sustainable development, the future of United
Nations reform, the International Criminal Court and
human rights, the death penalty and financing for
development.
I wish, once again, to focus the attention of this
noble gathering to the issue of the Caribbean banana
trade with the European Union (EU). The facts are well
documented. Banana exports to the European Union
from my country and similarly from Dominica, Saint
Lucia and other African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)
countries are crucial to the economies of these
countries and represent over half of all export earnings
in some cases. The industry provides substantial
employment for many families in Dominica, Saint
Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, my own
country.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is appreciative
of the efforts of the European Commission and other
parties which seek to bring about an amicable and
equitable solution to the dispute. However we are
deeply concerned that, should the tariff quota regime
be eliminated as a means of ensuring conformity with
the 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling, this
would have immeasurable harmful consequences for
our economy. It will lead to the destruction of the
Caribbean banana industry and negatively affect other
ACP supplying States where exports are also crucial to
the economy.
The two alternative solutions being proposed by
the European Commission, that is a first come, first
served system, along with a tariff rate quota and, if that
proves impracticable, moving directly to a tariff only
system, would prove to be disadvantageous and
32

disastrous for the Caribbean industry. Neither system
ensures access.
We therefore urge the interested parties to the
dispute to use their substantial influence to bring about
the much-needed breakthrough which will facilitate a
resolution that is acceptable to all parties. An
efficacious settlement of this long-standing issue will
support our efforts, as a small economically vulnerable
island State, in eradicating poverty and maintaining
peace and economic security, which are vital for the
achievement of economic diversification within a
reasonable period of transition.
While we recognize that there are structural and
inherent disadvantages that inhibit our ability to
compete with highly integrated operations on the
market, we ask that an equitable solution be sought in
order to allow our people to engage meaningfully in
trade and development, rather than be forever subjected
to the aid and dependency syndrome. Our expressed
desire to hold on to our banana industry, which served
us well, in no way reflects any misunderstanding of the
realities of the present day trade and economic
environment.
My delegation also wishes to express its concern
over the procedural obstacles raised in Geneva within
the WTO that would prevent consideration of the
waiver requested in respect of the new ACP-EU
Partnership Agreement if it includes bananas without
advice on how the regime will be formed. My country
and other members of the Caribbean Community have
been actively engaged in diversifying our economies
throughout the last quarter of the last century. This has
involved activities in the agricultural, manufacturing,
tourism and service sectors. In Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines, as a direct corollary of this thrust, we have
improved air access to our country and my Government
continues to prioritize the education of our people to
prepare them for the opportunities that will accrue.
My Government will continue to honour its
commitments to all international agreements to which
it is signatory. In furtherance to our international
obligation we have signed the following: the United
Nations Convention on Contracts for the International
Sale of Goods, the Convention on the Recognition and
Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, the United
Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea,
the International Convention Against the Taking of
Hostages and the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected
Persons, including Diplomatic Agents. All of these
instruments were deposited with the Secretary General
during the Millennium Summit.
During his speech at the Millennium Summit,
Prime Minister Mitchell stated that:
“Small island States such as our own, with
an enviable record of good governance and
human rights, have seen the mighty in the banana
trade using the international rules — crafted by
them — impede our economic growth.”
Similarly, the verdicts that have been imposed by
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) on our financial services,
without any deference to our rights to be heard,
demonstrate total disregard for the well-being of small
vulnerable States attempting to diversify their
economies. I echo Prime Minister Mitchell's sentiment,
“Where is the fairness in free trade?”
Offshore financial services is one of our chosen
avenues of economic diversification. We believe that
we are capable of offering a useful, professional and
mutually beneficial service to our clients. Accordingly,
in 1995 we embarked on a comprehensive legislative
exercise to ensure that we would put in place a
regulatory and supervisory framework to adequately
administer the conduct of international financial
businesses operating in Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines. In our efforts to further strengthen our
regulatory regime against money laundering activities,
we enacted six additional pieces of offshore legislation.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is committed to being
a responsible member of the international community,
including by playing its part in the war against money
laundering. We believe that those who toil to build a
better life for themselves, their children, their
grandchildren and any other beneficiaries, should be
afforded the right of privacy in their affairs. Such
people should have access to facilities that will
preserve that privacy, and the opportunity should be
created for them to optimize and maximize their
wealth. It is, however, important to note that whilst we
believe in the preservation of privacy, we are also
resolute in efforts to ensure that persons of undesirable
character and conduct are not allowed to take
advantage of the opportunities that are available in our
international finance sector.
33

My country and others in the Caribbean
Community are deeply concerned that the so-called
harmful tax initiative of the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) is designed to
frustrate tax competition, and that it threatens the
sovereignty of small island States desperately seeking
creative avenues for survival. Such action on the part
of the OECD could encourage the creation of a tax
cartel, thereby removing the possibility of lower taxes
from those who wish to legitimately escape them
through the exercise of free choice. It would also close
off an area of diversification and economic activity in
which poor developing countries can be competitive
and which they have actively promoted for a long time.
The unilateral practices of the OECD, the Financial
Stability Forum and the Financial Action Task Force
also impact negatively on the burden of taxation in
wealthy countries, impair the competitive capacity of
Caribbean jurisprudence in the provision of a global
financial service and stifle economic growth in the 47
blacklisted countries, with all the concomitant evils.
The small island States of the Caribbean are
among those countries most at risk from the adverse
effects of climate change. Already, many of our islands
are experiencing those effects in areas that impact
directly on the important tourism sector of our
economies. We are also prone to extremely damaging
natural disasters, especially hurricanes and storm
surges, which visit us annually with increasing
frequency and ferocity. Our diverse region also
experiences droughts and floods, volcanic eruptions
and earthquakes, with equally devastating effects, if
less regularly than the pleasantly named perennials.
The continued committed support of the international
community is crucial in complementing the work of
those States in addressing these serious problems.
Our survival as a region is intimately interwoven
with our environment. Our physical and economic
limitations should not be further burdened by the transshipment of hazardous waste through our waterways.
Such actions are a flagrant violation of our human
rights and an affront to our sovereign dignity. We
therefore reiterate the call for the Caribbean Sea to be a
nuclear-free zone in the context of sustainable
development.
In closing, I take this opportunity to pay tribute in
this forum to one who has upheld the highest ideals of
the Charter of the United Nations, through service to
our country, to the Caribbean and to the international
community. I speak of the Prime Minister of Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines and current Chairman of
the Caribbean Community, The Right Honourable
Sir James F. Mitchell. For 34 years he has served as an
elected member of our legislature. He has seen our
country through the stages of constitutional
development from crown colony to internal selfgovernment, and finally, as our longest serving Prime
Minister, to a fully independent State. For us in Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, it is difficult to
contemplate public life without him. His address at the
Millennium Summit was his last to this body, for he
has decided to demit office as Prime Minister before
the twenty-first anniversary of our political
independence, on 27 October 2000. Sir James Mitchell
has made us all proud by his long, dedicated and
visionary service. The initiatives taken by him in the
area of land reform, which empowered people through
land ownership, are exemplary. I think it is appropriate
that, on behalf of Vincentians everywhere, I extend
sincere gratitude to him from this rostrum.
The challenge is ours: to turn our words into
action and to agree on a common vision of our future.


Ms. Lydie Polfer, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister for
Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg regrets having had to
cut short her stay in New York. She has asked me to
make this statement in her place.
The Millennium Summit has given us the
testimony of the heads of State and Government. This
exceptional meeting was the opportunity for a renewed
commitment of States throughout the world to our
Organization, encouraging common efforts to give
every citizen the freedom to enjoy a decent life and
opening the way for self-fulfilment for individuals and
their communities.
We congratulate and commend you, Sir, as the
new President of the General Assembly. We also
express our gratitude to your predecessor, Mr. Theo-
Ben Gurirab, for the vigour of his presidency.
Our Secretary-General has tirelessly emphasized
the urgent need to act by innovating and ensuring a
sustained pace for the work of the Organization. We
also commend him and especially encourage him to
continue his work.
My speech today will emphasize the themes of
Luxembourg's message to the Millennium Summit. The
speech by Mr. Hubert VÈdrine, the French Minister for
Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the European Union fully
reflects the point of view of my country.
In 1999 we restated the main themes of the
Luxembourg Government's involvement in Europe and
within the United Nations and its commitment to
strengthened international solidarity, demonstrated by
the fact that in 2000 my country has reached the
objective set by the United Nations of official
development assistance of 0.7 per cent of gross
national product. This year is a time to speak further of
the principle of shared responsibility, because the
world has to face the old challenges of violence and
development, as well as the more recent one of
globalization.
Globalization is both a source of achievement and
cause for concern. It is ambivalent and requires
adequate instruments in order to manage it and gear it
towards equitable development. Without a common
definition of the rules to be applied, it could give rise
to bitterness and revolt. But the use of violence might
compromise the path towards development. It is a
matter of concern that worldwide arms sales have been
on the rise since 1996. The horror of constant violence
committed by human beings against each other could
simply make us grieve. However, such a passive
attitude would not do justice to the realities of this
world. The number of armed conflicts has in fact gone
down, from 55 in 1992 to 36 in 1998, but this bare
statistic does not explain how this decrease took place.
2

However, another statistic should grab our attention:
between 1974 and 1999, 113 countries went from an
authoritarian regime to a multi-party system. More
meaningful than statistics is the encouraging fact that
the number of negotiation processes has increased, the
key to their success often being innovative formulas to
achieve peaceful coexistence where previously there
was deadlock and resentment.
East Timor, the conference between Somalis in
Djibouti and the new inter-Korean dialogue are recent
examples. In spite of the obvious difficulties, these
constructive developments show by their number and
diversity that preventing conflicts is a strategy in
motion. We have to consolidate this strategy of
prevention in order to show that it produces lasting
results. Of course, there are many failures, and we must
not close our eyes to the difficulties.
In Kosovo, in particular, intolerant behaviour led
to a sort of blindness, even in people who had
themselves suffered oppression. Psychology teaches us
that former victims do not always avoid eventually
becoming executioners. We must put an end to this
vicious circle and stop unbridled criminality. The
commitment of the Special Representative, Bernard
Kouchner, and of all those who are working to brighten
a grey sky brings us a message of hope which will bear
fruit.
At the end of the cold war our hopes were
perhaps inspired by impatience. Today we see that
there are solid foundations: above and beyond
academic investigations and the awakening of
conscience, concrete action is being taken. We thank
the community of organizations and individuals present
in the field; those who pay with their lives expect
others to support them and to provide the necessary
means.
But the major responsibility is not to disappoint
those in direct need of assistance: victims, displaced
persons and refugees, those denied the protection of the
rule of law, even the means of subsistence. And when
management deficiencies lead to short-sighted over-
exploitation and stifling pollution of an environment
that can take no more, this phenomenon should be
reversed and responsibility established and assumed.
How can we believe that catastrophes will go
unnoticed or that international solidarity will not bother
to analyse the cause of events?
Crime must not pay. This concept will go from
theory to practice in the globalization era. Information
is spreading ineluctably and innovations are being
made. International law may be lagging behind certain
technologies, but it is in the process of being
developed. For example, universal participation in the
overall structure of multilateral treaties, which was
strongly stimulated by the Millennium Summit.
Another example is the courts to try war crimes,
genocide or crimes against humanity. After the creation
of tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda,
some countries are considering establishing courts in
cooperation with the United Nations. National courts
have instituted proceedings, and as a result the era of
impunity is ending. Luxembourg was the eighteenth
State to ratify the Rome Statute of the International
Criminal Court, which will go into effect after 41 more
ratifications.
In democracy the rule of law prevails, but
political action is crucial to its development. Through
the major conferences of the 1990s and their follow-
ups, the United Nations has shown clearly that such
conferences are also an important source of law. The
guidelines that emerge stimulate the creation of
domestic laws, and their juxtaposition produces a vast,
internationally recognized network. Future actions,
including the campaign against small arms, financing
for development and the World Conference against
Racism, will help promote the rule of law. Stable, but
not rigidly fixed, transparent and subject to democratic
controls, the rule of law is certainly one of the most
reliable pillars for development.
But the international community and the United
Nations will have to build other pillars as well as part
of the structure for a world in which poverty and
violence no longer threaten us. Without going into
detail, I refer to the need to remember, respect for
equality, the will for prevention and openness to
cooperation.
The century which is drawing to a close was the
most terrible in the history of mankind in terms of
absolute numbers of victims, and also in conceptual
terms, because it led to the development and use of
weapons of mass destruction. Above all, it saw several
cases of genocide on an unheard-of scale, openly
motivated by the most despicable racism. It is essential
to study the mechanisms which lead to these
aberrations into inhumanity, because repetitions of such
3

destructive phenomena should be rejected and made
impossible.
The conclusion to be drawn is that we should
remember, which means escaping from ignorance and
always bearing in mind the lessons of the past. If the
countries of the European Union are very sensitive
whenever they encounter xenophobia, racism and the
rejection of those who are different, it is because we
are resolved at all costs to act to avoid once again
succumbing to the sickness of hatred. A Europe with a
growing population, a European Union spreading to the
east and the south, must act with determination to
continue the course of openness.
Luxembourg is a laboratory with a mixture of
peoples, as a result of our being at the crossroads of
French and German culture and because of the impact
of immigration of long ago. The moral outlook of its
citizens leads them to respect others and their
individuality. With the coming of sovereignty,
independence and development became a reality for
our country, and with them a strong adherence to the
principle of equality, whether of individuals or States.
It is the responsibility of all States to expose the
dangers of any tendency to feel contempt for others.
Unfortunately, division and lack of respect for the
worth of the individual can be seen on every continent.
Only five years ago the world deplored the most
violent racist crimes in Bosnia and Rwanda. Such
crimes must be rejected, for they create openings that
the prejudiced quickly take advantage of. We must
collectively assume responsibility in the fight against
this vicious circle.
Respect for equality requires that we do not make
independence a sanctuary. Rather, it demands that we
accept each other as partners and recognize the
legitimacy of our respective interests. Thanks to the
progress of the European Union, classic sovereignty
has been replaced for its member States by an
interdependence whose positive effects are impressive.
The solution, in the year 2000, is no longer abstract
independence, but concrete cooperation.
Throughout the year 2000, the Security Council
has devoted a great deal of time to Africa in
recognition of the seriousness of the phenomenon of
taking large portions of countries hostage. Some of
these crises are being fuelled by the exploitation of
natural resources. The significant international reaction
to these events is encouraging, but it must also lead to
the elimination of these situations. Among them, I will
mention the problems in Angola, Sierra Leone and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
These catastrophes, along with other
developments  in particular in East Timor, in
southern Lebanon and along the border between
Ethiopia and Eritrea  have contributed to a
considerable increase in United Nations peacekeeping
activities. However, these activities are suffering from
a lack of resources, to such an extent that both their
operations and their credibility are compromised.
Instead of being a deterrent, they risk becoming simply
an alibi.
I hope that this session will be able to adopt
energetic measures to implement the recommendations
of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations,
chaired by Mr. Brahimi. The lack of financial resources
should not be an insurmountable obstacle. Further, it is
appropriate to take up this issue as part of this session's
agenda item on the scale of assessments for
peacekeeping operations. But in fact, these activities
are above all operations aimed at maintaining
ceasefires. Achieving peace requires other efforts
first and foremost the will to prevent conflicts and the
determination to avoid their resurgence.
After the research, the passionate discussions and
the debates  most recently those that took place in
the Security Council and in the General Assembly
committee on the prevention of conflicts in Africa
have we found sufficient will to now take action? Such
a critical mass is necessary if a determined will to
prevent conflicts is going to be manifested.
Human solidarity will be essential in those
instances in which the parties show they are incapable
of avoiding conflict and when attacks on the integrity
of individuals and major material consequences can be
clearly foreseen. Indifference and lack of assistance in
the face of danger no longer accord with the universal
awareness of the reality of our interconnectedness,
which grows in parallel with the spread of knowledge.
This is an ethical issue, but it is also an issue of
knowledge and technical resources. Luxembourg
intends to create a civilian action corps to go on
humanitarian and human development missions.
Luxembourg will contribute to the United Nations
funds for peace-building, and it is involved in
peacekeeping operations and in reconstruction
missions.
4

The will to prevent conflicts entails the ability to
choose from among a great range of mechanisms that
are capable of dissuading those who, as a result of
ignorance or provocation, are turning to aggression.
This will to prevent conflicts can be that much more
effective in managing disputes if it is invoked well
before violence breaks out. Over eight years, the
discreet action of the High Commissioner on National
Minorities of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, Mr. Max van der Stoel, has
amply justified the confidence placed in him by 55
European States and former Soviet Republics and has
produced significant results.
When people are struggling in isolation, external
cooperation and solidarity can remove the most
difficult obstacles. The noteworthy Human
Development Report 2000 of the United Nations
Development Programme stresses the importance of
preventing conflicts, of inclusive democracy and of
respect for human rights as means of preventing
countries that have been bled white from being
excluded from the benefits of the global economy and
of global technology.
For their part, Mr. Annan and Mr. Brahimi remind
us that every action to reduce poverty and ensure a
solid foundation for growth is a step towards
preventing conflicts. This is one of the keys of
development. It is a very reliable method for building
confidence and reducing poverty. It is a responsibility
that we must take up.
The effort cannot be undertaken unless external
cooperation is not in itself an obstacle. In many cases it
gives rise to questions and resistance. But cooperation
that is not welcome is pointless. Unfortunately, at times
mistrust and a certain pride prevail and lead to a
fortress mentality. This in turn can lead to
overemphasizing identity issues and to the
development of a mental block.
When a terrifying earthquake rocked Turkey in
1999, the Greeks offered their assistance. This gesture
and the Turks' acceptance of it have profoundly
transformed bilateral relations that have been
particularly difficult. This positive, spontaneous
development was the result of the awareness of Foreign
Ministers Papandreou and Cem that the ongoing harm
being caused by the earlier mistrust was not acceptable.
This positive development is continuing, and it is
greatly hoped that it will soon be reflected in the
conversations, under the aegis of the United Nations,
between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot
communities  conversations that are at present
indirect.
When confidence comes up against the invisible
wall of ignorance, even the tendered hand will not be
taken. Thus, those who are separated by a
psychological chasm should construct a bridgehead and
express in a decent manner their willingness to achieve
mutual recognition.
The Israelis and Palestinians were reconciled in
significant ways as a result of the Camp David
conversations. President Clinton, for his perseverance,
Prime Minister Barak and President Arafat, for their
awareness of history and their common acceptance of
their shared responsibility to the future, deserve
encouragement and the firmest support in their effort to
conclude this historic process. I am convinced that the
resources of this dialogue have not been exhausted.
There is an opportunity to achieve, within the next few
weeks, a framework agreement. It must remain clear
that the willingness to cooperate has been firmly
established. This willingness will be seconded by the
willingness of the international community, and of
Europe in particular, to offer its support to the
establishment of peace and to the reconstruction
efforts.
The sculpting of the role of the United Nations,
the shape of its future work, will be a complex and
demanding task if we expect the Organization to escape
its current fragility and affirm its responsibility. But
perhaps we can rely increasingly on the vast experience
that has been gained during past actions. The
development of this collection of experiences requires
increasing internal cohesion. The responsibility for the
development of this cohesion falls on the
Organization's Members. This is the objective we must
set for ourselves. The willingness to cooperate must
lead to the elaboration of healthy administrative and
financial structures, as well as to balanced relations
between the principal organs, none of which should be
exempt from periodic reform.
Today the United Nations cannot be said to be in
a position to meet these criteria. Therefore, is it not
indispensable that its Members pay their assessments
without delay or conditions, and in full?
The fact that the Security Council is not being
reformed and the distance between the Council and the
vast majority of General Assembly members does not
5

contribute to the effectiveness of the Organization. The
bridges that the United Nations will try to construct
should include, in order to seek greater unity of action,
a reinvigorated relationship between the General
Assembly and a duly enlarged Security Council.
The United Nations will be put to the test. As a
result of the pursuit of globalization the Organization
will be in demand. Will it be capable of meeting the
challenge and of responding in a way that will put the
Organization at the centre of the major international
discussions? Even after the Millennium Summit it
would be rash to claim that this question is closed.
Luxembourg hopes that it will be possible to respond
positively, and Luxembourg reaffirms its willingness to
cooperate so that we can proceed together in this
direction.


Allow me, Sir, to welcome you to your post and to
wish you every success in your important and difficult
activities in guiding the activities of this Assembly. I
should like to say how grateful we are to Mr. Theo-Ben
Gurirab for his wise guidance of the last session of the
General Assembly.
The twentieth century was in every aspect a
century of sharp contradictions in relations among
peoples and nationalities, as well as a century of
economic disaster. The most stark examples were two
world wars, scores of civil wars and the catastrophe at
the Chernobyl nuclear power station, as well as other
tragedies.
The flames of war also raged in the African
States, which had gained independence in the 1960s. In
Central Asia, the Afghan wound is still bleeding, but
the most important event of the twentieth century was
the collapse of the enormous empire called the
USSR — an empire which wore the outer shell of
international friendship but within which everything
was worm-eaten. New, independent sovereign states
arose from its ruins. Out of that rubble, our
independent neutral State arose — Turkmenistan,
which from the very first days of its coming into being
chose the path of goodness and justice, peace and
cooperation.
The twentieth century did not resolve many of the
problems that needed resolution. Quite the contrary —
the knots of these problems have become even more
tangled and their lines even more taut. They have
accompanied us into the twenty-first century and now
we must unravel this tangled web and relax these taut
lines. This should be the task and concern of all
peoples and nationalities.
Our planet is the house we share and therefore it
is the duty of everyone living on this planet to keep it
clean and peaceful and to achieve economic stability.
In his report submitted to the Millennium Assembly,
the Secretary-General of the United Nations drew our
attention to problems which require immediate
solution, relating to all aspects of our lives.
Globalization is the priority problem. It is an
inevitable objective process, part of the general course
of world development, which includes many aspects,
both positive and negative. This is a decisive trend in
world development, which affects the whole complex
and multifaceted field of international political and
economic relations. In this respect, questions of
international law and the moral and juridical aspects of
relations between countries and regions cause concern
and require constant monitoring.
We must not allow some to hold sway over others
or allow mankind to be programmed according to one
yardstick alone, and no sovereign state should be
dictated to by insistence on one development model.
This is a very serious question, because this approach
calls into question the entire system of international
relations, the legitimacy of international legal norms
and the principles and purposes — indeed, the viability
of — the United Nations itself as the expression of
voluntary cooperation among equal nations.
The model of political globalization based on the
supremacy of a neo-liberal philosophy is gradually
strengthening the logic of confrontational thought in
international affairs, leading to the arm-twisting of
those who don't recognize the new international power
structure based on humanitarian intervention and
protecting human rights, but not on the rights of
peoples.
Turkmenistan, like the overwhelming majority of
States, is against this approach. We are convinced that
the common progress of mankind lies not in dictating
one model or in a single set of laws and principles, but
a combination of ideas and philosophies. In this
8

context, I should like to stress the importance and
timeliness of the idea put forward by the President of
Iran, President Khatami, of a dialogue between
civilizations. We started this century and this
millennium under such a profound symbol, and this
obliges us to have respect and tolerance for a whole
range of centuries-old cultures and State systems. That
is how we see the possibility for a friendly dialogue
among States, peoples and individuals.
We must move away from looking for differences
among us and start looking for what brings us together,
without forgetting our specific features. That is our
approach in our relations to the world and with all our
partners, and this has made it possible for my country
in the short period of time since our independence to
build friendly relations with all our neighbours in the
region and to find many friends far beyond the confines
of our neighbourhood.

The main achievement of independent
Turkmenistan was to ensure stability within our State,
and this stability has been guaranteed because of the
universal support of the programmes and tasks facing
the State, in which our people take a direct part. It is
thanks to this stability that we are today successfully
implementing economic and social programmes that
seek to provide well-being for our citizens.
The development of a socially oriented policy has
been reflected in a strategy for socio-economic reforms
in Turkmenistan for the period up to 2010. That
programme envisages a continuation of the policy that
gives priority to social programmes, bearing in mind
the economic realities that have emerged in the years of
our independence. Today, Turkmenistan is a country
that is self-sufficient in grain and basic food products
and that has implemented the main parts of its overall
programme for economic security.
In our economic programme, we stress in
particular developing the real sector of the economy,
institutional transformations and attracting
investment — including foreign investment.
Agriculture is our priority, as well as the fuel and
energy sectors, the chemicals industry and consumer
complexes, transport and communications
infrastructure and a network of transnational pipelines
that export Turkmenistan's fuel to world markets.
One of the main tasks in this coming period will
be to develop our productive potential. Here, a leading
role will be played by the fuel industry. We intend to
concentrate our efforts on labour-intensive sectors;
these are promising from the point of view of their
potential and competitiveness. The economic growth of
our State should guarantee the well-being of our
citizens.
From the standpoint of ensuring sustainable
social development and the progress and well-being of
our people, regional cooperation is becoming
particularly important. In our region, we have a stable
system for active economic interaction, provided by the
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), which
consists of 10 States with major resource and economic
potential. Over the past few years within ECO we have
started to implement some important interregional
transportation and communications projects which will
bring the European and Asian countries' economies
closer together, bridge the technological gap between
them and establish an equitable system of trade and
economic relations between the North and the South.
That same goal is currently being served by
Turkmenistan's efforts to export energy raw materials
to world markets. Building pipelines is not just a
question of profitable commercial projects; these are
also projects for the social development of our country
on an enormous scale, going well beyond our national
confines. Because of this, Turkmenistan is taking an
initiative to draft an international legal instrument to
guarantee the safe, unimpeded transit of energy raw
materials through major inter-State pipelines. This
instrument is necessary to make sure that the interests
of the producers are taken into account, as well as
those of the transit countries and consumers, and that
we totally rule out the possibility of the use of these
pipelines as an instrument for political and economic
pressure.
Another problem that could severely damage
regional stability is the question of the legal status of
the Caspian Sea. The lack of clarity on this question
and the one-sided scenarios being offered impede the
use of the enormous potential of this sea. For
Turkmenistan, the main point is to take into account
the interests of all riparian states in order to ensure that
cooperation on the Caspian is based on mutual respect,
equality and mutual benefit. Turkmenistan believes that
seeking a new legal status for the Caspian Sea requires
all riparian States to make some sensible compromises
9

and show a willingness squarely to face the new
realities. This process should be monitored by the
United Nations.
Touching on regional security, allow me to dwell
on the grave Afghanistan problem, which we take
particularly seriously. The history of the long-suffering
Afghan people has shown that any outside interference
in this domestic conflict, particularly the use of force,
is futile and will only make matters worse. We are
facing a fair accompli, and in this situation we must
recognize that dialogue and cooperation with the
Taliban will give more results from the point of view of
their natural modernization than any attempts to isolate
them or to impose any kind of sanctions on them.
Sanctions basically work against the Afghan people.
They are therefore counterproductive.
Turkmenistan favours a peaceful solution of its
conflicts, and as a neutral, friendly neighbouring State
is prepared actively to promote the Afghan settlement
under the aegis of the United Nations. In particular,
recently, upon the initiative of the President of
Turkmenistan, another initiative was taken to work out
some mutually acceptable solution to resolve this
Afghanistan conflict. That was the point of the
Turkmenistan mission which went to Iran, Afghanistan
and Pakistan and held talks and consultations with top
leaders of these countries and with the leaders of the
Taliban movement and the Northern Alliance, after
which proposals to settle the conflict were made at the
recent meeting between the Secretary-General of the
United Nations and the Afghanistan six plus two group.
Together with the United Nations, Turkmenistan is
making every effort to convince the belligerents to
cease fire and to sit down at the negotiating table.
In conclusion, I again assure the Assembly that in
Turkmenistan the United Nations has an active
Member prepared to make every effort to discharge the
lofty tasks decided at the United Nations Millennium
Summit. As we enter the new millennium we begin to
wonder what it will be like. What awaits us in the
future? Every person, every people, living in this world
is striving for a better, more radiant future, which has
to be built consistently, insistently, on the basis of
peace, respect and progress. I hope that all the peoples
of the world will devote themselves to that goal.


On my way to the
Assembly Hall, I was informed by the Supreme State
Council of the Islamic State of Afghanistan that in a
self-evident act of aggression hundreds of Pakistani
military personnel — army, plain-clothes personnel and
armed Taliban — are reported to have been positioned
in the Shah Salim pass dividing the Pakistan border
town of Chitral from north-eastern Afghanistan, bound
for an attack on Badakhshan province.
On behalf of my delegation, I take this
opportunity to congratulate you, Sir, on your
assumption of the major task of presiding over the
important millennium session of the General Assembly.
I would also like to congratulate the Minister for
Foreign Affairs of Namibia, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, on
his excellent leadership of the fifty-fourth session of
the General Assembly, which set the stage for the
Millennium Summit.
Three years ago, I stood before the Assembly and
stated from this very rostrum that, as the crisis in
Afghanistan continued to unfold, we had to ask, and
answer, important questions. At the time, I spoke of the
dark and ominous movement known as the Taliban,
which, backed by cross-border troops, had invaded
Afghanistan. This year, at its millennium session, the
General Assembly indeed has to answer major
questions. One among many is the silence the world
has chosen to keep in dealing with the Taliban and their
Pakistani supporters. With the spread of Talibanism,
which has led to the abject misery of the Afghan
nation, massive insurgency and turmoil in the region
and beyond, is it not high time that the international
community put a stop to the Pakistani-operated Taliban
processing machine? Certainly, mere rhetoric and
inadequate reactions are not enough. It is with this
view that I should like to focus my statement entirely
on the situation in Afghanistan and its devastating
regional and international implications, within the
given time limit.
4
A question arises: what has been the result of the
Talibanization of the occupied parts of Afghanistan? In
an age of information and globalization, it has been a
reign of terror imposed by a religious police, abuse in
the name of religion, the elimination of all freedoms
and civil liberties, massive violations of human rights,
degrading and tormenting treatment of men and
women, trafficking of women and girls, the forced
separation of women from their menfolk, the random
and deliberate round-up of individuals based on their
ethnic and religious origins, the practice of scorchedearth policy, the torching and total obliteration of
farmlands, orchards and other means of livelihood, the
contamination of water resources, the forcible dispatch
of children and adults to the battlefields, the removal of
all but rudimentary religious education — for male
students only — with the closure of all schools for
females, the deliberate denial of access to humanitarian
aid, the intensification of battles, an exacerbation of the
situation, widespread terrorism and the destruction of
the historical heritage and artefacts of Afghanistan in
order to alienate the Afghan nation from its ancestry
and historical identity.
The objective of the Pakistani military
intelligence establishment, known as Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI), through the imposition of the socalled Islamic Emirate of the Taliban, has been to
create instability in Central and South Asia by means
of terrorism. This “Islamic Emirate” has instituted
Mullah Omar, the militia's leader, as the undisputed
Amir-ul-Mo'mineen, meaning “Commander of the
faithful” not only in Afghanistan, but in theory
throughout the Muslim world.
The process the Pakistani military intelligence
has chosen for the realization of its objective is to
transform the Afghan nation into an exhausted,
devastated, illiterate, ignorant and destitute nation
struggling hard for mere survival. Pakistan wants to
turn Afghanistan into its false front to mask illicit
activities of narcotics trafficking, terrorism and other
crimes, as well as religious extremism, by establishing
centres and bases for such activities. Attempting to act
as the champion of the Muslim world, Pakistan
continues to carry out these activities under the name
of Islam. It is therefore not a matter of astonishment
that such activities have led to the defamation of both
the noble religion of Islam and the image of Muslims
throughout the world.
In short, the Afghan nation has become the direct
victim of the diabolic dreams of the Pakistani
military's hegemonic interests in the region. These
diabolic dreams are pursued by the Pakistani military
intelligence, ISI, an evil and extremist institution,
while the implied risk and perilous consequences for
the very survival of Pakistan as a State in the future are
overlooked.
As the world is gradually awakening to the
creeping Taliban threat, it is a matter of dismay that
some “civilized” nations, on certain occasions, have
preferred to deal with the reclusive and defiant Taliban,
an entity which has failed to meet the minimum
standard of being considered civilized, while having
championed terrorism, human rights violations and
crimes against humanity. It is no surprise that only
Pakistan's military junta has continuously given its full
blessing to the movement.
At least until early May of this year, the official
position of Pakistan, from what its diplomats and
officials strangely claimed, was that it maintained
contacts with both parties to the conflict. However,
Pakistan's News Network International (NNI) news
agency reported on 25 May 2000 that General Pervez
Musharraf claimed that Pakistan's pro-Taliban policy
was “in accordance with Pakistan's national interest.”
Advocating that Pashtoons should be on the side of
Pakistan, the General was quoted as saying, “We have a
national security interest, both demographic and
geographic.” He further stated that in the realization of
this security interest, “Pashtoons should be on our side
and they”, meaning Pashtoons, “are represented by
Taliban.”
The world must know that in a flagrant violation
of recognized international norms and principles and in
clear contempt of the United Nations Charter, the ruler
of the Pakistani military junta, under the outrageous
pretext of national security interest, has claimed the
right to impose a certain ethnic group through the
invocation of an ethnically provocative mandate at the
cost of the sovereignty and political independence of
Afghanistan, a Member of the United Nations and,
prior to that, of the League of Nations, long before
Pakistan was even born.
It is important to remember that terrorist training
camps operating from the Taliban-held territories of
Afghanistan, including those established by the
infamous Osama bin Laden, whose dismantling has
5
been repeatedly called for by the United Nations and
the entire international community, have been
established by Pakistan's military intelligence through
the Taliban mercenaries and other extremist networks.
They continue to utilize these territories as a ground for
training, sheltering, planning and dispatching elements
seeking to commit hostile acts against countries of the
region and beyond. This is done under the guise of
Islam, but, in fact, it is mainly in pursuit of Pakistani
hegemonistic objectives directed towards Afghanistan
and the Central Asian Republics. Recent events and
activities by extremist groups in Kyrgyzstan and
Uzbekistan are manifest examples of the spillover of
the Pakistan/Taliban-supported agenda in the region.
The Islamic State of Afghanistan believes it is
high time that the Security Council, in accordance with
relevant resolutions, undertook appropriate
enforcement measures against Pakistan, which is the
prime source of sponsorship of these activities.
The Security Council, in its unanimously adopted
resolution 1267 of 15 October 1999, explicitly
demanded that the Taliban mercenaries refrain from
sheltering, supporting and training terrorists and
planning terrorist acts from Afghan soil against other
countries and that it extradite to the requesting States
those indicted for committing international acts of
terrorism.
The recent upsurge of terrorist activities in
Central Asian countries and beyond, emanating from
the Taliban-occupied parts of Afghanistan, requires
drastic measures by the Security Council against the
militia and its Pakistani supporters. The consideration
of the imposition of further targeted sanctions and the
expansion of the scope of resolution 1267 (1999),
which must include the end of terrorist activities in all
forms and manifestations in the Taliban-held parts of
Afghanistan, could adequately, among other things,
serve the cause of peace and security in the region.
Here I would like to welcome the proposal by the
Republic of Uzbekistan for convening an international
conference, at the earliest possible time, to debate the
evil phenomenon of terrorism.
In spite of the current devastating drought in
Afghanistan — the most severe in 30 years —
Afghanistan remains the leading producer of narcotics.
The production of illicit drugs, and their trafficking by
the Taliban and the politico-military mafia of Pakistan,
account for considerable revenue, which is used to
finance the prolonged war in Afghanistan. This leads to
considerable transnational organized crime, while
adding to the number of addicts, both at home and
abroad.
Among the many deliberate violations and
instances of absolute disregard for international
humanitarian law and the numerous crimes against
humanity committed by the Taliban and their outside
supporters in the year 2000, one could mention the
following cases: the cold-blooded killing on 11 May of
198 young Uzbek and Hazara men imprisoned as
hostages in Taliban jails; the brutal killing on 5 August
of the United Nations mine-clearance employees
affiliated with the Organization for Mine Clearance and
Afghan Rehabilitation; the deliberate denial of access
to humanitarian aid that, according to the European
Union, in the light of the devastating drought
constituted a breach of international humanitarian law;
the forced blood-drawing and organ removal of
innocent civilians along the Tagab-Nijrab route in
August; the forced deportation of the civilian
populations of the city of Aibak on 31 July 2000; the
closing down in August, as part of the ongoing fouryear campaign by the Taliban to keep women from
working, of all bakeries run by the United Nations
World Food Programme in which widows were paid to
make bread that was then sold at a subsidized price to
other widows, who number at least 25,000 in Kabul
alone; the indiscriminate aerial bombardment of
civilian neighbourhoods at Taloqan on 15 August; and
the forcible displacement of hundreds of thousands of
people throughout the north due to renewed Taliban
military onslaughts.
We believe that the commission of those heinous
crimes by the Taliban militia was largely attributable to
the lack of adequate response by the Security Council
and the international community to bring to justice the
perpetrators and others involved in incidents at
Bamyan in 1997, at Mazar-e-Sharif and Bamyan in
1998, in the north of Kabul in 1999, and in the killings
of Iranian diplomats, a journalist and the military
adviser to the United Nations Special Mission to
Afghanistan (UNSMA) in 1998.
It is significant to note that the Taliban continue
to deprive women of their fundamental rights,
including the right to education, which affects over
100,000 female students in Kabul alone. Women are
still barred from employment by the Taliban. While the
predictable results will speak for themselves, present
6
and future female generations of Afghanistan will be
illiterate. The cultural and social impact of that
criminal act on the country's future generations will be
enormous.
Pakistani military intervention in Afghanistan is a
fact well known to the international community. The
hundreds of Pakistani prisoners captured while fighting
alongside the Taliban and now in the custody of the
Government; the mortal remains of hundreds of
Pakistanis in the battlefields and the documents and
identification cards obtained from their pockets; the
intercepted radio transmissions; and the massive
logistical support and the overt supply of large
quantities of military hardware and ammunition, all
prove the direct involvement of Pakistani army
personnel in Afghanistan. In fact, Brigadier General
Rustam of Pakistan's armed forces, who is currently
stationed in Afghanistan's Kunduz province,
commands the Pakistani-Taliban-bin Laden operations
in the north. He has been assisted by two of bin
Laden's henchmen, Abu Wara and Hubab. All of them
were involved in the recent occupation of Taloqan and
in the atrocities committed against the civilian
population. It is important to mention that the
November/December issue of Foreign Affairs
magazine has estimated the total number of Pakistanis
having fought in Afghanistan since 1994 to be in
excess of 80,000.
A breakdown of Pakistani nationals fighting in
Afghanistan include the following: Pakistani armed
contingents, including units from the North-West
Frontier Corps and different commando units, have
actively participated in battles on various occasions;
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officers involved in the
planning and command and control of both intelligence
operations and logistical support; ex-commissioned
officers in charge of tactical operations, artillery
support and logistics; frontier militia units;
paramilitary members of extremist terrorist groups
affiliated with the ISI, such as the Sipah-e-Sahaaba, the
Sepah-e-Tayeba, the Harakat-ul-Ansar and so on; and
the so-called volunteers from Pakistani madrassas, or
religious schools.
Other categories of foreign fighters in
Afghanistan include Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda
group and its affiliated units from around the Persian
Gulf, the Middle East and Africa, and extremist groups
from Central Asia, South Asia and the Far East. In
addition, thousands of Afghan refugees who were
educated and trained in Pakistani religious schools are
dispatched to the battlefronts of Afghanistan. Finally,
there are conscripted and forcibly recruited persons
from around Afghanistan who are deployed as canon
fodder.
In this context, the Islamic State of Afghanistan
appeals to the Security Council to mandate the United
Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan to dispatch an
investigation team to Afghanistan to verify and report
to the Security Council on the presence of Pakistani
armed men and Arab fighters who are working
shoulder-to-shoulder with the Taliban mercenaries.
This would break the silence that has thus far
encouraged further Pakistani intervention in
Afghanistan.
I should like to remind the Assembly that only
those Afghans conscripted and forcibly recruited will
be immune from prosecution by the Islamic State of
Afghanistan for war crimes, crimes against humanity
and genocide. The rest shall be subject to indictment.
One must conclude that the failure of the Jeddah
indirect negotiations in particular, and of other peace
initiatives at large, derive from the sad reality that
peace has no place in the Taliban agenda.
While striving for the realization of noble human
values and principles — the institution of a democratic
system, the observance of human rights, including
those of women and girls, civil liberties and
elections — the Islamic State of Afghanistan reiterates
its firm position to strive to reach a peaceful settlement
of the conflict and hereby declares its full readiness for
the formation of a broad-based, multi-ethnic and fully
representative Government through a workable
mechanism such as the traditional grand assembly, or
loya jirgah, or any other representative forum under the
auspices of the United Nations. Meanwhile, as long as
Pakistan continues to directly and massively intervene
in the internal affairs of Afghanistan, the Islamic State
of Afghanistan considers the task of defending the
territorial integrity, national unity and political
independence of Afghanistan its immediate priority.
The Islamic State of Afghanistan has high
expectations that the United Nations and the
international community will exert pressure on
Pakistan to immediately cease its intervention in
Afghanistan and to withdraw all its military personnel
and armed nationals from Afghanistan; that the
Security Council will address the question of foreign
7
intervention, the existence of terrorist networks in
Afghanistan and the effective implementation of
relevant Security Council resolutions; that the
Organization of the Islamic Conference will clarify its
view of the Taliban's words and deeds — spoken and
carried out in the name of Islam — which we believe
distort, and are contrary to, the true spirit of Islam, its
tenets and injunctions; that the United Nations Drug
Control Programme will assist the Islamic State of
Afghanistan in the fight against the production and
trafficking of illicit drugs; that the United Nations and
the international community will step up their efforts
for an early and peaceful settlement of the Afghan
conflict; and that the international community will
provide humanitarian assistance to the war-stricken and
drought-hit civilian population of Afghanistan. Here I
should like to mention that the current drought, the
most severe in 30 years, will have tremendous
humanitarian repercussions.
We remain thankful for the statements made by
the heads of delegation at the Millennium Summit and
in the General Assembly expressing their legitimate
concerns over the dangers emanating from the
Pakistani Taliban-occupied territories of Afghanistan.
We deeply appreciate and support the
indefatigable efforts of Mr. Francesc Vendrell, the
Secretary-General's Special Representative for
Afghanistan and head of the United Nations Special
Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA), who has left no
stone unturned, and no party to the conflict or countries
concerned out of communication, in finding a peaceful
solution to the Afghan conflict.
I should like to conclude by stating that the
United Nations cannot embark on the new millennium
without appropriately addressing the issues enshrined
in its Charter, among others, the question of noninterference. Neither can this international body
advocate globalization in its true sense when
Talibanization is threatening regional stability in our
part of the world. Certainly the Pakistani military junta
will remain the prime actor in this dreadful and
immense tragedy in Asia.
Like many others afflicted with the Taliban
plague, we wonder how far the evil threat of
Talibanism will spread, how many more souls it will
bury and how many new borders it must cross before
the conscience of the international community is
awakened, not just to consider but to adopt immediate
and drastic preventive measures.


Allow me
at the outset, Mr. President, to convey to you our
cordial congratulations and regards on your election as
President of the fifty-fifth session of the General
Assembly. I am convinced that your competence and
active cooperation with United Nations Member States
will pave the way for a successful and fruitful session.
I would also like to express sincere thanks to your
predecessor, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, Minister for
Foreign Affairs of Namibia, for the effective manner in
which he guided the work of the previous session.
At the same time, I wish to commend Mr. Kofi
Annan, the Secretary-General, for his firm leadership
since taking office and for his visionary and action-
oriented report “We the peoples:”. This report, together
with the forward-looking Millennium Declaration,
adopted two weeks ago at the historic Millennium
Summit, sets an ambitious agenda for the United
Nations for the twenty-first century.
I would also like to convey our warmest welcome
to Tuvalu, the newest Member of the United Nations.
As we enter the new millennium, the prospects
for the international community's evolution are marked
by justified hopes, generated by the significant changes
that occurred in the international arena during the last
decade, yet also by hesitation and sometimes by
scepticism regarding our capacity to efficiently face
today's worldwide challenges. The Millennium Summit
offered a unique opportunity to reflect on the global
problems that confront the world today and to identify
and act on the challenges ahead. It reaffirmed the
centrality of the world Organization in addressing the
global, social, security and economic needs for the
benefit of people. We have ahead of us a real challenge
to reshape the United Nations so that it can realize its
universal goals of peace, human security, cooperation,
poverty eradication and sustainable development. From
this perspective, the Republic of Moldova attaches the
utmost importance to the implementation of the
commitments inscribed in the United Nations
Millennium Declaration.
Though the international community, and in
particular international organizations, makes systematic
efforts aimed at resolving conflicts, we should
recognize that these efforts sometimes fall short of
reaching their proposed goals. Currently, on the
European continent alone, we are witnessing a number
of unresolved conflicts and potentially crisis-
generating situations.
Democratic transformations and economic
development in some South-Eastern European
countries, including the Republic of Moldova, are also
jeopardized by unresolved internal conflicts. In the past
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eight years we have made sustained efforts to settle the
conflict in the eastern region of the country, in full
compliance with the principles of international law and
international practice. The mechanism of settlement,
involving the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the mediating
States, Russia and Ukraine, has been established.
Moldova is oriented towards a complete settlement of
the conflict, respecting the principle of the sovereignty
and territorial integrity of my country, and at the same
time granting to the region autonomous status. Despite
the reasonable compromises proposed by the
constitutional authorities, separatist tendencies still
persist. It is an apparent peace, which distracts the
attention of the international community from the
imperatives of finding ways to settle the conflict and
simultaneously impedes economic and democratic
reforms.
The situation becomes more difficult if the fact
that the region is over-militarized is taken into account.
Tens of thousands of tons of munitions, armaments and
equipment, sometimes accounted for and sometimes
not, that are limited under the Treaty on Conventional
Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), are deployed in the
region. An early, complete and unconditional
withdrawal of foreign troops, munitions and
armaments, as stipulated in the OSCE Istanbul Summit
documents, and as required by the CFE Treaty, would
undoubtedly facilitate the peaceful and complete
settlement of this conflict. I express our hope that,
together with our partners, and assisted by the relevant
international organizations, we will be able to ensure
the implementation of the schedule for the withdrawal
of foreign troops from the territory of Moldova. I
would like to take this opportunity to express our
gratitude for the political and financial support granted
by a number of States in order to facilitate the process
of withdrawal and the destruction of the armaments.
Although some of the so-called frozen conflicts,
at least in our region, do not appear to be getting
worse, there is a growing sense of frustration that the
solution is not yet within our reach. It is therefore
imperative to enhance political awareness regarding
unresolved or potential conflicts, with a view to
actively involving the United Nations and relevant
regional organizations in their settlement.
It is well known that the settlement of an ongoing
conflict requires incomparably greater political,
financial and moral efforts than are needed at the stage
of preventing conflict. It has become obvious that
United Nations mechanisms and strategies for dealing
with threats to stability are inadequate. They need to be
strengthened, not only to resolve conflicts and conflict
situations, but, more important, to prevent them. From
this perspective, the Republic of Moldova fully
supports the Secretary-General's efforts to direct the
United Nations strategy towards conflict prevention.
We welcome the Brahimi report on peacekeeping
operations. In our view the implementation of its
recommendations will significantly consolidate the
capacity of the United Nations in conflict prevention,
peacekeeping and peace-building.
Member States should provide the Organization
with the necessary support to enhance the rapid
deployment capabilities of the United Nations through
the involvement of the United Nations standby
arrangements system. Given this context, I would like
to inform the Assembly that Moldova has already
established the legal and institutional framework for its
future participation in peacekeeping operations and the
United Nations standby arrangements system.
Disarmament and non-proliferation are essential
elements of the security architecture. The Republic of
Moldova, like many other countries, considers that we
should continue our efforts to achieve disarmament and
non-proliferation, with universal ratification of the
major multilateral disarmament instruments and
negotiations on biological weapons, ballistic missiles
and small arms. In particular, we should reaffirm the
role of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty as the
cornerstone of international peace, security and
strategic stability. The Republic of Moldova attaches
the utmost importance also to the issue of small and
light weapons, primarily to the effort to create effective
international mechanisms for the prevention of their
illegal transfer, especially in areas of conflict. In this
respect, we are prepared to bring our contribution to
the preparation of the international conference on illicit
trafficking in small arms and light weapons in all its
aspects, to be held next summer.
My country highly appreciates the proposals of
the Secretary-General on the issues of development and
poverty eradication as reflected in the millennium
report and in the report on the work of the Organization
submitted to the fifty-fifth session of the General
Assembly.
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In conditions of globalization, which has
generated profound transformations in the global
economy, this issue becomes even more important,
particularly for less developed States and for States
with economies in transition. A United Nations system
better adapted to the necessities of economic
development should pay more attention to the
harmonization of commercial policies, cooperation in
the technological field, and the monetary policies of
member States and international institutions.
In these efforts, the United Nations should enlist
the support of governmental economic and financial
institutions, the private sector and non-governmental
organizations, thus promoting a partnership with a view
to development. A redefinition of the cooperation
framework and international help is needed, which
should involve new strategies and investment policies.
My country favours the elaboration of strategies of and
measures for globalization management, and also
favours the holding of a special session of the General
Assembly regarding globalization and a United Nations
conference on the less developed countries next year.
In order to reach sustainable development
focused on the human being, there is a need to improve
the partnership among developing and developed
countries, international institutions and civil society.
We consider that the United Nations, as a framework
for international cooperation, should play a key role in
supporting and coordinating national efforts. Within
the framework of the United Nations development
programmes and funds, the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) plays a special role
in human sustainable development. United Nations
assistance provided through UNDP has contributed to
strengthening the legal and institutional framework
necessary for the continuation of countries' reforms.
Currently, the framework for cooperation between
the Republic of Moldova and the United Nations
Development Programme embraces approximately 40
projects in the fields of governing and democracy,
environmental protection and regeneration, the
protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms,
the promotion of women, poverty reduction and
eradication, economic and social strategies, and human
sustainable development. I would also like to mention
the important role of the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe. By promoting the
dissemination and implementation of the instruments
of the Commission, we would ensure the adjustment of
economies in transition to international and European
standards. Thus, the projects implemented by the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
would contribute directly to the integration of these
economies into the world economy.
The Republic of Moldova supports the activity of
these institutions. We consider, however, that their
financial resources should be increased and the
management of resources should be more efficient. We
welcome the actions undertaken by the UNDP
Administrator, reflected in the Administrator's business
plans, and those of the Executive Secretary of the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe,
meant to enhance the efficiency of the activities and
resource management of these important institutions.
We consider that the establishment of strong positions
regarding development policies, through an
understanding of the characteristic conditions and
specific needs of countries, would contribute
significantly to the Organization's reaching its goals in
this domain.
The reform of the Security Council lies at the
heart of the general reform of the United Nations. It
should be guided by the principles of equitable
geographic representation, democracy, effectiveness,
efficiency and transparency. It is on this foundation
that we can modernize the composition of the Security
Council and bring it into line with the substantial
increase in the general membership of the United
Nations since 1963, the year of the only previous
reform of the Council. The Republic of Moldova
pronounces itself in favour of a moderate enlargement
of the Council's composition and of a reasonable
increase in the number of permanent and non-
permanent members which would correspond to the
principle of fair geographical distribution and ensure
an adequate balance between the industrialized and
developing countries.
Our country also welcomes the process of
revitalization and improvement of the General
Assembly's efficiency and, at the same time, supports
the idea of restoring the central role of the Assembly as
the debating and main representative body of the
United Nations. We consider that it is necessary to
continue the efforts to consolidate the coordinating
functions of the Economic and Social Council
regarding United Nations funds and programmes.
Under existing conditions it is clear that United
Nations reform will continue successfully only if the
4

financial problems affecting the Organization's
activities are solved. We support the proposals aimed at
the reform of the United Nations scales of assessments,
including the peacekeeping scale, taking into
consideration the payment capacity of each State.
Despite the difficulties it faces, my country makes
every effort to reduce its United Nations budget
arrears.
The evolution of the situation in the international
arena in the past 55 years calls for imposes a new
vision and a redefinition of the concrete mechanisms
for realizing the fundamental objectives of the
Organization, which spring essentially from the
founding philosophy of the Charter of the United
Nations. In this respect, the Organization should draw
conclusions from its own past and, relying on
permanent support from States, should accomplish new
tasks from the perspective of adapting to the
imperatives of time. We express our hope that the
United Nations, which remains indispensable for the
international community in the twenty-first century,
will be able to impose a positive direction on this
evolution.


On behalf of the
Government and people of the Republic of Suriname, I
would like first of all to join previous speakers in
extending my congratulations to Mr. Harri Holkeri on
his assumption of the presidency of the fifty-fifth
Millennium session of the General Assembly.
Allow me also to pay tribute to his predecessor,
Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, for the outstanding and fruitful
way in which he guided the work of the fifty-fourth
session of the General Assembly.
My delegation wishes to express its deep
appreciation to Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his
21

continuing and tireless efforts in steering the United
Nations through the uncharted waters of world affairs
while adapting it to the new global forces of change.
We welcome Tuvalu into the family of nations,
and the Republic of Suriname looks forward to
working together with it in implementing the principles
and goals of the Organization.
This Millennium Assembly is a unique
opportunity to take stock of, and to reflect on, recent
experiences with the phenomenon of globalization,
which continues to dominate developments in the
economic, political and cultural field at both the
national and international levels, affecting the daily
lives of millions of people, their institutions and
relations between States.
We recognize that while globalization can be a
powerful and dynamic force in the promotion of
economic growth and development, it also poses risks
and new challenges to individuals and nations alike.
The fact of the matter is that globalization has
generated new economic disparities, as its benefits
remain highly concentrated in only a few countries.
This has brought about increased vulnerability and
economic instability, in particular to the least
developed countries and to the structurally weak and
vulnerable small States.
Many of these countries have difficulty in coping
with the increased competition arising from trade
liberalization and lack the capacity to take advantage of
the new opportunities brought about by globalization,
which in turn puts them at risk of marginalization and
even complete exclusion  the so-called big losers of
globalization.
It is for this reason that, during the recently held
Millennium Summit, consensus was reached at the
highest political level that globalization must be
considered in the wider context of development and of
our shared responsibility to ensure that, through a more
inclusive, transparent and participatory decision-
making process in international economic issues, the
benefits of globalization are accessible to all on an
equal footing.
We also concur with the view that the United
Nations, as the most universal forum, has a crucial and
central role to play in forging understanding and
consensus among its Members, so as to create more
opportunities for all, and indeed not to leave billions of
people in a state of poverty and exclusion. We look
forward to concrete actions to be taken in this regard.
All nations have a collective responsibility to
address current global concerns, such as
underdevelopment and acute poverty, the growing
inequality within and among nations, violent conflicts
and civil wars which cause untold human suffering in
the South and are fuelled by the global arms bazaar,
environmental degradation, refugees and migration,
HIV/AIDS and other threats to public health, bridging
the digital divide and the emergence of global
criminal conglomerates.
In the context of the aforementioned, we welcome
the initiative taken by the Secretary-General to create a
digital task force with the aim of bridging the digital
divide. In order not to lag behind in our present era
dominated by the advances in information and
communications technology, the President of the
Republic of Suriname launched a national information
and communications technology initiative in his
inaugural statement on 12 August of this year in order
to catch the Internet Express without delay and to
promote national access to information and
communication services at all levels of education and
all areas of the public domain. We welcome the
contribution of the Kingdom of Norway to assist the
small island developing States (SIDS) in this regard.
Last April, the developing countries met in
Havana and, in a renewed spirit of cooperation,
solidarity and shared responsibilities, they agreed to
close ranks and implement an action-oriented
programme to assist the developing countries in
bridging the gap with their more affluent partners from
the North. Although essential in contributing to
development, South-South cooperation is not a
replacement for North-South cooperation; nevertheless
better relations between the members of the South will
contribute to better relations between the South and the
North.
Unfortunately, globalization and trade
liberalization have not created the necessary conditions
to accelerate growth and development for small and
vulnerable States. On the contrary, these countries have
been further marginalized in world economic affairs
and are threatened by the provisions of the World Trade
Organization (WTO), demanding an end to the special
and preferential arrangements, enacted solely to level
the playing field. We, therefore, reiterate our request
22

for the international community's early adoption of a
vulnerability index so as to consider assistance to these
countries, based on their specific vulnerabilities and
not solely on their gross domestic product. We are
pleased that an appeal was made in the Millennium
Declaration to enact such a vulnerability index.
Recently, the 12 Presidents of South America
assembled in Brasilia to discuss daunting issues that
are common to the region and to pledge their political
will and support as a firm foundation for enhanced
cooperation among their respective countries. We thank
the Government of Brazil for so gracefully hosting this
Summit. The Declaration coming out of that meeting,
in letter and spirit, underlined the necessity of closer
cooperation between our countries in order to be able
to adapt successfully to the demands of globalization.
At the dawn of the new millennium, the
Government of Suriname considers it of crucial
importance that Member States achieve tangible results
in the areas of disarmament, arms control and non-
proliferation of nuclear weapons in maintaining peace
and reinforcing international security for all States.
The reform of the Security Council remains
crucial for our efforts to make the United Nations more
effective in dealing with global peace and security
issues. So far, however, reaching consensus on how to
restructure and reform this important body has eluded
us as a consequence of differences among the Member
States with respect to the scope and nature of the
needed changes. My Government reiterates its view
that the membership of this Council should be
increased with members from both the developed and
developing world and considers in this context the
proposals presented by the Non-Aligned Movement
(NAM) as instrumental.
We also believe that agreement must be reached
on defining the relationship between the Council and
other principal organs of the United Nations, such as
the Economic and Social Council and the General
Assembly. We are of the opinion that the Security
Council should focus its actions on creating a peaceful
security environment, while the temporarily established
United Nations involvements related to socio-economic
and political development in affected countries should
be coordinated by the Economic and Social Council
and/or the General Assembly. Such an arrangement,
based on the Charter provisions, will undoubtedly
contribute to greater effectiveness and efficiency of the
United Nations, while limiting the influence of national
policy considerations on its activities. Let us use the
momentum created by the Millennium Summit to
strengthen our resolve in reaching a consensus on this
matter as soon as possible.
The Government of Suriname wishes to
underscore the importance of the United Nations as the
universal forum to enable Member States to reach
consensus on issues related to peace, security,
development and international economic cooperation.
We wish to express our gratitude to the Kingdom of the
Netherlands for resuming bilateral cooperation between
our countries and to thank them for their support in this
area.
The United Nations Charter embodies lofty and
noble principles that remain valid today, as was
reiterated by all the Heads of State and Government at
the recently held Millennium Summit.
In order to make the United Nations a more
effective instrument in the hands of the world's people,
we must continue to be guided by these principles in
conducting national and international affairs. In this
regard, it is essential to honour the commitment to
providing the necessary financial means in a timely and
predictable manner in order to enable the United
Nations to fulfil its mandates.
Finally, as we enter the new millennium in an
emerging global village, we must bear in mind that we
are one human family in all our diversity, living in one
common homeland, the planet Earth, and that we must
therefore cooperate in creating a more just, more
sustainable and more peaceful world in which everyone
will live in a clean environment with a fair distribution
of the Earth's resources  indeed, as the Secretary-
General has called for in his millennium report, a world
free from want, free from fear, that does not
compromise the ability of our planet to provide for the
needs of our children and for future generations. My
country stands ready to play its part and to contribute
to this, our common endeavour.