Allow me at
the outset to join previous speakers in congratulating
you, Sir, on your election as President of the
Millennium Assembly of the United Nations. Allow me
also to express my confidence that under your skilful
stewardship this session of the General Assembly will
successfully accomplish its mandate. I also wish to
commend our outgoing President, Mr. Theo-Ben
Gurirab, for his eminent leadership during the previous
session of the Assembly.
My delegation extends its warm welcome to the
Government and the people of Tuvalu, whose
membership has brought the United Nations yet
another step closer to universality.
This session of the General Assembly is entrusted
with the honourable mission of following up on what
was agreed by the Millennium Summit of world
leaders. For me personally, this session is also very
special. For 26 years, or most of my diplomatic career,
I have been associated with the United Nations. I feel
particularly privileged to deliver as Foreign Minister a
policy statement of my Government from this rostrum.
A few days ago, Member States reaffirmed at the
highest level their commitment to the purposes and
principles of the United Nations Charter, their
unequivocal support for a more efficient and
reinvigorated United Nations and their firm resolve to
collectively work towards a healthier and cleaner
world, free from fear and free from want. The
Millennium Declaration underscored the collective
responsibility of world leaders to uphold the principles
of human dignity, equality and equity at the global
level.
That sense of solidarity and shared responsibility
is, in our view, crucial for the international community
to be able to address effectively the formidable
challenges at the dawn of the new millennium. The
challenges the world faces today are indeed manifold
and complex, both in scope and nature. The central
challenge, as identified in the Secretary-General's
millennium report, is how to make globalization more
inclusive and have its benefits equitably enjoyed by all
nations.
4

As recently as the mid-1980s, the notion of
globality was virtually unknown in the international
vocabulary, let alone the concepts of global governance
or global climate change. Yet just a little more than a
decade later, not only does the idea of globality blend
with our day-to-day life, globalization per se has turned
into a powerful and inevitable process. Globalization
has been generously showered lately with both praise
and criticism. Along with greater opportunities, it can
also lead to situations of heightened insecurity,
especially for the weak and poor nations. As my
President, Natsagiyn Bagabandi, noted in his
Millennium address,
“Mongolia believes that, with its impartiality and
universal legitimacy, as well as its Charter-based
prevalence over any other international
agreement, the United Nations is uniquely placed
to provide an overarching general guidance to the
process of globalization … so that it incorporates
the human dimension in its seemingly unruly
trends”. (A/55/PV.4)
As we draw lessons from the 1997-1998 Asian
financial crisis, it has become more evident that the
process of globalization ought to be managed so as to
make the best of its opportunities and diminish its
negative effects; and that internal policies, no matter
how righteous, are not sufficient to ensure sustained
economic growth in this era of growing
interdependence. This is even more true for
developing, structurally disadvantaged countries. In a
globally liberalized trade and financial system, these
countries need to be assisted to withstand powerful
external forces, which so often are utterly destructive.
Again, this necessitates a genuine display of solidarity
and shared responsibility on the part of the
international community.
The global fight against abject poverty, inequality
and disparity, violence, HIV/AIDS, organized crime
and other acute problems is being impeded by, inter
alia, the increasing external debt burden, the decline in
official development assistance and the growing digital
and development divides between haves and have-nots.
The affluent countries could exhibit their solidarity and
shared responsibility by further opening their markets,
providing deeper and faster debt relief, and giving
more and better-focused development assistance and
incentives for foreign direct investment flows to their
less fortunate partners. In this context, Mongolia looks
to the upcoming high-level international conference on
financing for development, the Third United Nations
Conference on the Least Developed Countries, and the
new multilateral trade negotiations to produce specific,
time-bound commitments.
Mongolia welcomes the South Summit
Declaration and the Havana Programme of Action as
well as the outcome of the meeting between the G-77
and the G-8 in Okinawa as important junctures
providing an inspiring vision for more action-oriented
South-South cooperation and a meaningful North-
South partnership.
My delegation attaches great importance to the
decisions adopted at the tenth session of the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD), which underscored the necessity of
creating a legal environment that would facilitate
transit traffic for landlocked developing countries,
improve transit infrastructure and increase efficiency of
trade by eliminating transport and bureaucratic
bottlenecks. Here, I am pleased to announce that a first
specific step to enhance and facilitate multilateral
transit transport cooperation is being taken in the
North-East Asian region. As a result of a tripartite
meeting held in Ulan Bator under the auspices of
UNCTAD earlier this year, Mongolia, Russia and
China have agreed to conclude a transit traffic
framework agreement. Negotiations to draft such an
agreement are under way.
My delegation further believes that the upcoming
fifth meeting of governmental experts from landlocked
and transit developing countries and representatives of
donor countries and financial development institutions,
as well as a ministerial meeting on transit transport
issues, expected to be held in 2003, will play a critical
role in strengthening a common framework of action to
ease the burden faced by landlocked developing
countries.
We support the proposals put forward in the
millennium report by the Secretary-General on
improving the provision of health services and
communications in areas stricken by natural disasters.
As some might be aware, heavy snowstorms and the
extremely cold winter of 1999-2000 in Mongolia
caused the loss of nearly 3 million heads of livestock,
or about 10 per cent of the nation's entire livestock
population. Besides the direct loss of livestock, these
heavy winter conditions, known as dzud, had other
gravely devastating economic and social consequences,
5

including the loss of precious human lives. I would like
to take this opportunity to express, on behalf of my
Government and the people of Mongolia, our sincere
gratitude to those Governments, international
organizations and individuals that rendered timely
assistance and support in our efforts to overcome the
consequences of dzud.
As world leaders solemnly reaffirmed in their
Millennium Declaration,
“the United Nations is the indispensable
common house of the entire human family,
through which we will seek to realize our
universal aspirations for peace, cooperation and
development.”(A/RES/55/2, para. 32)
If the United Nations is to adequately respond to
the challenges of today's increasingly interdependent
and rapidly changing world, a great deal will depend
on its ability to adapt itself to an environment that is
markedly different from the one in which it was
conceived by its founders 55 years ago.
The demands on the Organization have increased
many times over, especially in the area of
peacekeeping. The lessons of Srebrenica, Rwanda and
Sierra Leone have made it abundantly clear that a
thorough and critical review is needed to make
peacekeeping operations succeed in meeting our
commitment under the Charter. We are deeply indebted
to the United Nations Panel on Peace Operations,
chaired by Ambassador Brahimi, which, in its report,
presented a frank analysis of the prevailing situation
and forthright recommendations for change. The report
deserves serious consideration and specific action at
this session of the General Assembly.
Mongolia stands committed to making a practical
contribution to United Nations peacekeeping
operations. As part of its efforts to adequately equip its
military officers and units for participation therein,
Mongolia took part for the first time in recent training
exercises held in Kazakhstan for Central Asian
countries.
Efforts to reform the Security Council have not
yet brought us closer to resolving some of the
fundamental issues on the agenda of the Open-ended
Working Group on that question. Like many others, we
continue to believe that the expansion of the Security
Council should take place made in both categories,
permanent and non-permanent. In the former category,
along with major industrialized Powers such as Japan
and Germany, developing countries from Asia, Africa
and Latin America that are able to contribute to the
maintenance of international peace and security should
occupy their rightful place in the Council. A reasonable
increase in the number of non-permanent seats would
reflect the representative character of the Council and
enable a growing number of Member States to
contribute to its work. An essential part of the reform
process should deal with the veto power, the use of
which should be considerably curtailed.
Mongolias vision of the future of the United
Nations has been elaborated in the memorandum of its
Government on enhancing the role of the United
Nations in promoting the security interests of small
States, circulated in the United Nations as document
A/55/310.
North-East Asia is a region where the interests of
the big and powerful intersect, where the leftovers of
the cold-war era are still discernible, and where
territorial disputes await a positive solution.
Nonetheless, groundbreaking developments are taking
place which give rise to optimism and hope. I have in
mind the historic inter-Korean summit, which has
played a crucial role for building trust and confidence
between the two countries. This and other recent
developments may well have a positive impact on the
situation in North-East Asia as a whole.
Due to its historical and geopolitical realities,
North-East Asia is probably the only subregion that
lacks a mechanism at the governmental level where
security issues of concern can be discussed
collectively. Various ideas and proposals to this effect
have been floating around for some time, but no
serious discussion of this issue has taken place so far at
the track one level. The time may have come to start
thinking about the possibility of engaging in a
dialogue, starting with a free exchange of views on the
framework of these discussions.
As we review the progress made in the area of
arms limitation, disarmament and non-proliferation,
our reaction can at best be termed as mixed. While
there has been some movement forward in certain
areas, there has been little or no progress in others.
The 2000 Review Conference of the States
Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT) included in its Final
Document a number of agreed conclusions and
6

recommendations related to nuclear disarmament. For
the first time ever, with reference to article VI, all the
nuclear-weapon States made
“an unequivocal undertaking to accomplish the
total elimination of their nuclear arsenals, leading
to total nuclear disarmament to which all States
parties are committed under article VI”.
(NPT/CONF.2000/28, part I, p. 14, para. 15 (6))
The Conference also agreed on the need to
establish in the Conference on Disarmament an
appropriate subsidiary body with a mandate to deal
with nuclear disarmament. It called for the immediate
establishment of such a body. The Conference also
called for further efforts by the nuclear-weapon States
to reduce their nuclear arsenals unilaterally and for
further reductions of non-strategic nuclear weapons,
based on unilateral initiatives as an integral part of the
nuclear disarmament process. A call has been made for
the engagement, as soon as appropriate, of all the
nuclear-weapon States in a process leading to the total
elimination of their nuclear arsenal. These elements
constitute an important statement of purpose and, if
translated into practice, will open the way to practical
nuclear disarmament measures.
Mongolia welcomes the ratification by the
Russian Federation of the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty (CTBT) and START II treaties, and we look
forward to the United States' ratification of the CTBT
at an early date. We urge the Russian Federation and
the United States to follow up on their earlier
announcement regarding the discussions on the
START III Treaty.
Mongolia joins the international appeal to the key
States to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty so that it could be brought into force as soon as
possible. The urgency of this call becomes even more
compelling in light of the activities that could seriously
undermine the nuclear non-proliferation regime.
My delegation also believes that it is important
for the Conference on Disarmament, which for several
years has been unable to agree on a programme of
work, to end its stalemate and to engage in earnest
negotiations on an early conclusion of a universal and
verifiable fissile materials cut-off treaty. Pending the
negotiation of that treaty, we would welcome a
moratorium by the nuclear-weapon-States on the
production of weapons-grade fissile materials and for
greater transparency through disclosure of their present
stocks. Better still, we would urge the United Nations
to establish a register for all stocks of weapons-grade
fissile material. This would help establish an important
balance with the United Nations Register of
Conventional Arms.
We welcome the decision taken by the United
States to postpone the deployment of a national missile
defence system. The undermining of the Anti-Ballistic
Missile (ABM) Treaty, a cornerstone of strategic
stability, could trigger an uncontrollable nuclear arms
race.
The growing emphasis placed of late on nuclear
weapons in military doctrines is a cause of increasing
concern. It is, therefore, only natural that countries like
Mongolia favour the adoption of such steps as de-
alerting of nuclear weapons, removal of nuclear
warheads from delivery vehicles and joint undertakings
by the nuclear-weapon powers of a pledge not to be the
first to use nuclear weapons. These are essential safety
measures that would reduce the risk of unauthorized or
miscalculated use of nuclear weapons. In addition,
provision should be made for legally binding negative
security assurances to non-nuclear States Parties to the
NPT, as has become customary for nuclear-weapon
States in signing Protocols to nuclear-weapon-free
zone treaties. In this context, Mongolia welcomes the
Secretary-General's proposal to convene a major
international conference aimed at identifying ways of
eliminating nuclear dangers. We hope that this timely
proposal will be given serious consideration at this
session of the General Assembly, followed by the
adoption of a relevant resolution to this effect.
Mongolia shares the legitimate concern of the
world community over the global proliferation of small
arms and light weapons, which are the principal
instruments of death wherever conflicts and wars
occur. We hope that the United Nations Conference on
the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in
All Its Aspects, scheduled for 2001, will result in
practical measures designed to tighten control, curb the
spread and destroy surplus weapons.
As is known, in 1992 Mongolia declared its
territory a nuclear-weapon-free zone; this was widely
supported by the international community. Since then
we have come a long way. At its fifty-third session the
General Assembly adopted resolution 53/77 D entitled
“Mongolia's international security and nuclear-
weapon-free status”. As a follow-up to its declaration,
7

the Mongolian Parliament adopted a law last February
on Mongolia's nuclear-weapon-free status, thus
institutionalizing it at the national level. At this
session, we expect a joint statement by the nuclear-
weapon States to provide security assurances to
Mongolia in connection with its nuclear-weapon-free
status, which would represent an important step along
the road to institutionalizing that status at the
international level. I wish to put on record my
Government's appreciation to the five Permanent
Members for their constructive cooperation and
support.
We believe that the aforementioned security
assurances would be more credible if Mongolia's other
external security issues were duly addressed. In that
case, not only would the status be more credible; but it
would also allow Mongolia to serve as a positive factor
of stability and predictability in the region. In this
connection, we certainly share the view of the
Secretary-General, expressed in his report on this item,
that consultations with the relevant United Nations
bodies will produce concrete and action-oriented
approaches to addressing the non-nuclear aspects of
security.
In line with the broader approach to security, and
on the basis of relevant provisions of the
aforementioned resolution, the International
Conference on Human Security in a Globalized World,
in the context of Mongolia, was held this year with the
participation of the United Nations and international
experts; it produced detailed recommendations on a
wide range of human security-related areas. In many
respects, the recommendations of our Conference
parallel the spirit and concepts of the Millennium
Declaration.
In July of this year parliamentary elections were
held in Mongolia, the fourth elections since the onset
of democratic reforms a decade ago. The elections
were recognized as free and fair by all political forces,
as well as by international observers, and served as a
testimony of further consolidation of democratic norms
and institutions in my country. They proved once again
that the embrace of democracy and respect for human
rights are an irreversible choice made by the
Mongolian people. As a result of the elections, the
Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party won an
overwhelming majority of seats in the Parliament.
From this high rostrum, I wish to reiterate my
Government's robust commitment to the consolidation
of democracy and the continuity of reforms. The task
of ensuring human security and promoting human-
centred development is high on the agenda of the new
Government, as envisaged in its action programme.
The Government is resolved to ensure sustained
economic growth through reinvigorating and
encouraging the development of domestic industry,
upgrading the living standards of the people by
reducing poverty and unemployment and ensuring
equitable social and educational opportunities.
The Government of Mongolia will intensify the
structural reforms and encourage an export-oriented,
private sector-led economy. Mining, the processing of
raw materials of animal origin, tourism and other
export-oriented sectors are the priority areas of
development. The privatization of State assets,
including the most valued State enterprises, will
continue. The creation of a favourable environment for
the attraction of foreign investment is also a priority
objective.
I fully share the view expressed in the
Millennium Report that success depends to a
considerable degree on the quality of governance the
country enjoys. Hence, my Government attaches
particular importance to enhancing the effectiveness,
transparency and accountability of public offices and
fighting corruption in both corporate and public areas.
The Government of Mongolia is determined to
cooperate closely with non-governmental organizations
and other representatives of civil society in enhancing
the rule of law throughout the country.
In its endeavours to carry out simultaneous
economic and political reforms, Mongolia is
encountering a multitude of challenges. The eighth
meeting of the Mongolia Assistance Group will be held
later this year in Paris, and my Government is
confident that our foreign partners will continue to
extend their generous support and cooperation so as to
ease the transition challenges faced by my country.
In pursuing its foreign policy, based on the
continuity of a multi-pillar, open and proactive
approach, Mongolia will continue to develop and
expand its friendly relations with the Russian
Federation and the People's Republic of China on the
principles of good-neighbourliness, mutual benefit and
equality. My Government will accord high importance
to the further development of bilateral relations with
the industrialized nations, including the United States
8

of America, Japan, other Asian and Pacific countries
and members of the European Union. Their political,
moral and financial support will continue to play an
important role in facilitating our reform efforts. The
Mongolian Government will actively strive to
strengthen our traditional long-standing relations with
Eastern and Central European countries, as well as with
the developing countries of Asia and the Pacific, Latin
America and Africa.
Mongolia will continue its active participation in
multilateral processes and international organizations,
such as the United Nations, and will spare no effort to
ensure that the world Organization remains a focal
point for the coordination of the efforts of the
community of nations towards peace and development
in the years to come.


Mr. President, it gives me
great pleasure to join preceding speakers in offering
you the Pakistan delegation's warm felicitations on
your election. We pledge to you our wholehearted
cooperation in your efforts dedicated to the success of
this historic fifty-fifth session of the General
Assembly.
I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to the
leadership of the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan.
His commitment and dynamism have reinforced the
rightful role of the United Nations in addressing the
challenges of our times.
The millennial transition is unique in the lives of
those fortunate to witness it. We are fortunate, too, that
we start this session in the glow of the Millennium
Summit. We shall be inspired in our work by the
ringing commitment of our leaders to values and
principles fundamental to the maintenance of peace and
security; by the resolve of our leaders to free peoples
from the scourge of war, on the one hand, and to free
humanity from dehumanizing poverty, on the other.
Their determination to protect the environment,
promote human rights, democracy and good
governance, and to meet the special needs of Africa,
will be our guide and mandate in our deliberations.
It will be our duty at this and future sessions of
the General Assembly, to translate the Millennium
13

Declaration into action. This is no doubt a difficult
challenge. But it is a challenge we must meet. Only
thus can we contribute to the building of a future better
than the past.
To all these ends — at once necessary as well as
noble — our leaders pledged to spare no efforts to
make the United Nations a more effective instrument of
international cooperation.
What is needed, if I may borrow an apt phrase
from the Secretary General's report, is a stronger
commitment to action — action to achieve peace, and
action to achieve development.
Each of our States can and must take action on
both fronts. But individual efforts cannot achieve
optimum results. All of us need to work with
dedication and a strong sense of commitment in a
cooperative and harmonious environment to promote
the twin objectives for a better future.
The Millennium Declaration emphasizes the
determination of world leaders to save peoples from
the scourge of war. Also the Secretary General's report
highlights peace and security as:
“a central objective of the United Nations at the
dawn of the twenty-first century, as it was when
the Organization was founded over half a century
ago”. (A/55/1, para. 29)
The problem is how to prevent war and achieve
peace. The solution is not difficult to find. What is
needed is a stronger commitment to action. Given that
commitment, crises and conflicts can be prevented and
peace can be achieved. Peace not merely possible; it is
realizable through a civilized approach to conflict
resolution based on justice and international law and
the principles of the Charter, the United Nations can
ensure effective remedial action to maintain peace and
security.
People watched with relief as the world
community joined together to prevent genocide in
Bosnia and Kosovo. With the commendable
cooperation of the Government of Indonesia and the
imaginative contribution of the Secretary-General, we
approached the situation in East Timor in a similar
way. The imaginative and diligent efforts of the
Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, Ambassador
Jamsheed Marker, to promote the settlement in East
Timor are a matter of pride for the people of Pakistan.
These are all examples of how the United Nations and
the international community can and should act to
address conflicts by implementing its principles and
decisions.
In the Middle East, too, the peace process has
made steady, if agonizingly slow, progress. For the
gains so far made, tribute is due to the idealistic efforts
of the peacemakers and the realistic approach of the
Palestinian and Israeli leaders. The residual issues are
difficult and delicate, involving as they do principles of
law and equity on the one hand, and deep emotions on
the other. Yet we ardently hope that the peace process
will succeed soon. Final settlement of the Palestinian
question will be a crowning achievement and a
momentous contribution to peace in the Middle East.
Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338
(1973) and 425 (1977) are imbued with an
irreplaceable international sanctity. Their
implementation involves the prestige and credibility of
the United Nations. An end to occupation and the
reversion of holy Jerusalem to Palestinian sovereignty
will ensure reconciliation and durable peace in the
Middle East.
The Kashmir question, involving the life and
future of the people of the State, has been the root
cause of tensions in South Asia since 1947. Its
settlement is an indispensable condition for peace and
stability. The ten million people of that State will not
be denied their right to freedom. They seek nothing
more than the fulfilment of the commitments contained
in the resolutions of the Security Council. Their right
to decide their own future cannot lapse. The passage of
53 years has only compounded the tragedy of the
Kashmiri people and prolonged their travail. The long
delay has only heightened the terrible dangers inherent
in the festering dispute.
According to the All Parties Freedom
Conference, 72,000 Kashmiris have been killed since
1989. Thousands more have been tortured and maimed
or have disappeared. The massive human rights
violations in Kashmir, and the repression and brutality
perpetrated on the Kashmiri people by occupation
forces, are a grave crime of State terrorism.
In a desperate attempt to undermine and suppress
the Kashmiri Freedom Movement, the perpetrators of
repression and violence against the Kashmiri people
have tried to portray the freedom struggle as terrorism.
Such propaganda did not carry credibility in the past
and it cannot do so now. It is familiar to all those who
14

have won freedom after protracted struggles against
colonialism and foreign occupation.
Pakistan has consistently vowed to seek a
peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute. Two years
ago, the Security Council once again emphasized the
need to resolve the dispute, which has been the source
of tension and conflict in the region. The provisions of
Article 33 of the Charter place an obligation on
Member States to settle disputes through recourse to
negotiation, inquiry, conciliation, mediation, arbitration
or adjudication. Each and every one of these means is
acceptable to Pakistan. Faced with the intransigent
rejection of peaceful means, the Security Council has a
responsibility to act. The Charter empowers the
Security Council to do so. What is needed is a stronger
commitment to action. In its absence, mere talk of
crisis prevention and dispute resolution will lack
credibility.
Afghanistan remains trapped in a terrible tragedy.
Its protracted war of liberation in the 1980s left it
devastated. The internecine war in the 1990s has
inflicted further ravages. The economy of the country
is in shambles. Drought in southern Afghanistan this
past year has added to the misery of the people of this
ancient land.
Tied to the Afghan people by bonds of geography,
history and culture, the people of Pakistan view the
tragedy in Afghanistan with a deep sense of sympathy.
Despite economic stringency, we continue to provide
shelter to 1.5 million Afghan refugees. The interruption
of the food supply from, or via, Pakistan would further
aggravate hardship and trigger a fresh influx. That is
why Pakistan is opposed to sanctions that hurt people.
No people except the Afghan people themselves
have suffered more from the conflict and instability in
Afghanistan than the people of Pakistan. It is natural
therefore that Pakistan should support all efforts for
peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. We were
encouraged to note a similarity of approaches by the
Foreign Ministers of the six contiguous countries, the
Russian Federation and the United States at the “Six-
plus-Two” group meeting convened on 15 September
by the Secretary-General. Pooling our resources and
influence, we should make more energetic efforts to
persuade the Afghan parties and assist the Secretary-
General of the United Nations in his efforts to promote
a broad-based Government acceptable to the Afghan
political parties and ethnic groups.
We support the Islamic Republic of Iran as it
leads a parallel effort for peace in Afghanistan on
behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC). We also appreciate the efforts recently
undertaken by Turkmenistan. In our view, all these
efforts complement and reinforce each other.
In his report on the work of the Organization
(A/55/1), the Secretary-General referred to the influx
of war materiel to Afghanistan from outside. Pakistan
urges not only a ceasefire but also a ban on the supply
of military equipment to the Afghan parties and the
establishment of a monitoring mechanism for its
enforcement. We also remain cognizant of the
imperative of respect for sovereignty. The Afghan
people have a history of fierce resistance against
outside interference. Engagement with the Afghan
Government offers better hope for amelioration than
attempts to drive it into a corner and isolate it. The
United Nations has been providing humanitarian relief
in Afghanistan. Programmes aimed at rehabilitation
and reconstruction may help bring the country back
into the international mainstream sooner. That is also
the more compassionate way.
Pakistan, itself a victim of terrorism, condemns
that evil in all its forms and manifestations, whether
committed by individuals, groups or States. Our
Government has ratified nine international conventions
against terrorism and we join all international efforts to
combat this menace.
Pakistan has historically supported all proposals
and agreements aimed at the limitation, progressive
reduction and eventual elimination of weapons of mass
destruction. For over a quarter of a century we made
efforts and initiated proposals to keep our area free of
nuclear weapons. Also, Pakistan has been prepared to
support universal and non-discriminatory measures and
proposals. Pakistan voted in favour of the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996 and
intended to sign it along with all others, especially the
designated States. The process of bringing that Treaty
into force was derailed due to events not of our own
making. Even then, Pakistan was not the first to
conduct tests in 1998. Pakistan will not be the first to
resume them. We still hope the Treaty can be brought
into force. Pakistan will not obstruct the realization of
that aim. Our Government continues efforts to build
domestic consensus in favour of signing the Treaty.
15

Meanwhile, restraint and responsibility remain
the guiding principles of our nuclear policy. Pakistan
will not enter into any nuclear arms race. Our sole aim
is to retain minimum credible deterrence. I wish to
reaffirm in this Assembly that our nuclear capability is
only meant to deter aggression against Pakistan; it
poses no threat to any country.
We support efforts aimed at the prevention of the
vertical or horizontal proliferation of nuclear weapons.
During the past year we have further strengthened
domestic regulations against export of nuclear
equipment or materials. Our power reactors are under
international safeguards.
Pakistan is prepared to cooperate in efforts to
introduce restraints on the development, production
and deployment of ballistic missiles. To be successful,
however, such efforts must be non-discriminatory.
Their aim must be stabilization of the situation.
Any use of nuclear weapons is inconceivable.
However, the Charter obliges Members to refrain from
the threat or the use of any force. The world
community should, therefore, emphasize no-first-use of
force, nuclear or conventional.
At the global level, Pakistan supports calls for the
continued observance of the Anti-Ballistic Missile
Treaty. The militarization of outer space would be a
disservice to hopes for the maintenance of existing
restraint and stability.
Pakistan will participate in negotiations on the
proposed fissile material cut-off treaty and make a
positive contribution to evolving a fair and an equitable
text that all countries can support.
In his address to the Millennium Summit, the
Chief Executive of Pakistan, General Pervez
Musharraf, stated:
“The best assurance for the consolidation of
global peace lies in the economic development
and prosperity of all regions and all peoples.
Economic progress in one region supports and
complements prosperity in the other.” (A/55/PV.4)
Development is not a zero-sum game.
Accordingly, the Millennium Declaration commits
world leaders to
“making the right to development a reality for
everyone” (resolution 55/2, para. 11) and freeing
the entire human race from want.
Globalization raised hopes, as it offered
opportunities for faster economic growth, higher living
standards and accelerated benefits from the flow of
knowledge and technology. But there have been
disappointments. Experience has shown that the
benefits of globalization have been uneven and that the
number of people living in poverty has actually
increased. Technological and information revolutions
have accentuated global inequality, and a new digital
divide has led to the marginalization of a large number
of developing countries.
Global trade regimes benefit the rich, and the
South has become poorer. Competition, standards, a
variety of non-tariff barriers, increasingly complex
trading practices, protectionism in selected sectors such
as agriculture, and restrictions on technology transfers
all militate against the interests of the developing
countries. They find it hard to secure adequate returns
for their products or to attract investment to improve
their competitiveness. As a result, economic disparities
are widening. This belies the promise of free markets
to ensure the well-being of all.
The failure of the World Trade Organization
meeting in Seattle last November and dissenting voices
heard in Washington last April make it clear that the
international economic system needs to be fixed.
Concerted global action is required for sustained
development to benefit and protect weaker economies.
The industrialized countries have a special
responsibility to adopt bold initiatives. Professions of a
desire for the eradication of poverty must first lead to
the establishment of an international economic policy
framework responsive to the needs of the developing
countries.
One important area is the debt issue. In one of the
interactive dialogues the Secretary-General proposed
that the United Nations could mediate between
creditors and debtors to address the debt problem. We
welcome this proposal. Our Chief Executive, speaking
at the same meeting, suggested that developing
indebted countries should be allowed to utilize
resources allocated to debt servicing for the
development of the social sector, especially education
and health care. Substantive debt relief through
innovative approaches will go a long way to help
developing countries ensure global harmony and
regenerate a new economic partnership between the
North and the South.
16

A holistic approach to deal with problems of
development and poverty eradication is necessary.
While we welcome the Secretary-General's initiative to
bridge the digital divide, the emphasis must remain on
addressing mass literacy, capacity-building,
infrastructure and basic health facilities. Similarly,
multilateral trade regimes should be development-
oriented. Environmental concerns about the prudent
use of natural resources must be pursued
simultaneously with emphasis on sustained economic
growth in the South.
The High-level International Intergovernmental
Event on Financing for Development, which will be
held next year, must involve the world's finance, trade
and development organizations in discussing the issues
comprehensively. The conference should promote good
governance at the international level. It must address
how we can manage globalization appropriately so that
its benefits reach everyone, ensuring universal
prosperity.
The upsurge of democracy in the past decade has
been a good omen for the start of the new millennium.
This salutary trend can only be sustained through
equitable economic development. Unless the
developing nations are able to have a fair share in
rising levels of global prosperity, the advocacy of
democratic values and human and social standards will
remain hollow.
In Pakistan we are addressing the challenges of
both economic revival and institutional reforms that
emphasize accountability, good governance and the
devolution of power to grass-roots levels political
institutions. In this endeavour, the Government is
banking on the support and enthusiasm of our people.
We believe that democracy is, first and foremost,
empowerment of the people, based on strong
institutions.
The world community is well aware of the
ravages inflicted on fragile economies of developing
countries and their poor people as a result of corruption
and the transfer of illegal funds to safe havens abroad.
They are often the worst victims of such malpractice
due to socio-economic forces within and banking
practices outside their countries.
The welfare of humanity in developing countries
demands international cooperation for the prevention
of corruption. Such cooperation was urged in
resolutions 53/176 of 15 December 1998 and 54/205 of
22 December 1999. The South Summit, held in Havana
in April 2000, also requested remedial action.
Transfers of illicit funds from developing
countries will not make the rich countries much richer,
but they will make the poor countries poorer. It is a
paradox that some rich countries have such lax laws
that they provide safe havens and encourage private
banks to launder illicit funds looted by corrupt persons
from poor countries by facilitating the establishment of
secret accounts. That is tantamount to the
encouragement of plunder, indeed, of financial
terrorism.
The nexus between corruption and the failure of
democracy was recognized also in the Final
Declaration issued by the meeting of the Community of
Democracies in Warsaw, held from 25 to 27 June 2000.
It emphasized the need to combat corruption, which
corrodes democracy. We need, therefore, to take
effective action. We propose that the General Assembly
should proclaim a policy of zero tolerance of all types
of corruption and urge a ban on the laundering of illicit
funds.
The United Nations has emerged as the only
forum with the universal recognition and authority to
address the entire spectrum of issues relating to human
aspirations for peace, justice and development. To meet
these growing expectations, this world body must be
strengthened. Its role must be reinforced in order to
ensure a better future for the world.
We support the call for enhancing the capacity of
the United Nations in the areas of conflict prevention
and peacekeeping. In this regard, we commend
Mr. Brahimi and members of the high-level Panel for
their extensive report. As an important participant in
United Nations peace-keeping operations, we in
Pakistan look forward to discussions on the useful
ideas and concepts that have been presented in the
report to enable the United Nations to respond more
effectively to existing and incipient conflicts and
threats to international peace and security.
No other aspect of reform of the United Nations
merits as close attention as the need to make the
Security Council more democratic, transparent and
accountable. Periodic elections of a larger number of
members will make the Security Council not only more
representative but also more responsive to the
aspirations of the world community. That will enhance
the capacity of this vital organ to contribute to the
17

maintenance of international peace and security and to
the realization of the purposes of the Organization.
That objective will not be achieved by the creation of
new centres of privilege which detract from the
cardinal principle of the sovereign equality of States.
For the same reason, the decision-making process
needs to be made more democratic.
For the Security Council to command universal
respect, its reform should have the general agreement
of the membership. Nothing should be done in haste or
in a manner that divides the membership or impairs the
authority and prestige of the Council.
In this increasingly interactive world, we share
with other nations the desire for a peaceful
environment and mutually beneficial cooperation, and
we see a pivotal role for the United Nations. The
universality of the United Nations gives it a stature and
legitimacy that is unprecedented in history. The
Organization should begin the twenty-first century by
demonstrating a clear commitment to addressing and
resolving the key development and security challenges
facing our peoples. It must be enabled to apply its
immutable principles and its decisions consistently and
forcefully to ensure durable peace, sustained economic
progress and a better future for all humanity.


At the
outset I should like to congratulate the President most
warmly on his election to preside over the General
Assembly at its fifty-fifth session. I take the
opportunity to assure him of my delegation's full
support as he carries out his difficult but uplifting task.
I feel sure that with his experience and abilities as an
able diplomat he will successfully guide our
discussions.
I should also like to extend my sincere and warm
congratulations to his predecessor, Mr. Theo-Ben
Gurirab, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Namibia, for
the ability and authority he demonstrated throughout
the fifty-fourth session.
I also take this opportunity of extending once
again to Secretary-General Kofi Annan our full
appreciation and support for his constant efforts and
resolve to find a better world in spite of the many
complex challenges in the new millennium. His
excellent report, “We the peoples: the role of the
United Nations in the twenty-first century”, is evidence
of this.
Mali welcomes Tuvalu to the Assembly. Its
admission to membership further strengthens the
universality of the Organization.
More than ever before, our world aspires to peace
and security and sustainable human development. In
this respect, our fifty-fifth session is unprecedentedly
important both historically and politically. The
exceptional opportunity offered us in the Millennium
Summit, which has renewed our hope in humankind,
must not be lost. The Millennium Declaration
demonstrates our maturity and our elevated sense of
responsibility for the future of humanity. Now we must
build this better world to which we all aspire. The
peoples of the United Nations look to us. They are
impatient. More than ever before they want to be actors
determining their own future, particularly people who
do not have very much, our people. They want to be
actors and to benefit from globalization.
That is how I see the historical and political
meaning of this session, which must give effect to the
dynamic now under way. Here, all together, we
reaffirm the place and the role of the United Nations in
the maintenance of international peace and security and
in cooperation for development, which require that the
United Nations become more legitimate by being more
democratic and stronger. What I say will be set against
this backdrop.
The maintenance of international peace and
security must remain our priority. The Organization is
increasingly faced with violent, deadly internal
conflicts that have taken the lives of millions of
civilians. It is therefore crucial to improve the system
of prevention and strengthen our institution's capacity
to organize and conduct operations effectively and
successfully. Here I pay tribute to the report of the
Panel on United Nations Peace Operations, led by
Lakhdar Brahimi. It is indeed a milestone in the
process of trying to make the United Nations “truly
credible as a force for peace” (A/55/305), so we must
quickly ensure that it has positive results. As the report
rightly emphasizes, United Nations intervention must
be decided upon on the basis of uniform criteria,
regardless of the region in which conflicts occur. The
multidisciplinary nature of new United Nations
peacekeeping missions demands clear and precise
mandates.
Mali welcomes efforts to strengthen cooperation
with regional organizations in regard to maintaining
peace, while respecting the competence of the Security
Council. Recent events in Sierra Leone remind us of
this and are a real challenge to us. Efforts by the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) and subregional
organizations must be supported to establish regional
capacity. This also applies to the Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS), which already has
a peacekeeping force and will soon have an early
warning system.
Peacekeeping operations cannot be a permanent
solution to conflicts or an answer to the underlying
causes. The international community must move from a
culture of reaction to a culture of prevention based on a
multidimensional approach, helping to save many
human lives and making additional resources available
for development. We must also emphasize that the
effectiveness of the United Nations in peacekeeping
depends largely on its capacity for prevention, crisis
management and peace-building. Here I appeal to the
international community to provide a stable and
healthy financial base for the Organization's
peacekeeping activities.
14

I pay tribute to the second Security Council
summit held on 7 September, which dealt with the need
to give the Council an effective role in the maintenance
of international peace and security, particularly in
Africa. The resolution that emerged from that summit
deserves the support of us all, for it will certainly
strengthen our capacity for prevention and crisis
management.
We must also continue work to free the world
from the fear of weapons of mass destruction and face
up to the threat of light weapons.
With regard to nuclear non-proliferation, the
indefinite extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) regime, the entry into force of the
Chemical Weapons Convention, the signing and
ratification of many other treaties on important aspects
of disarmament, and the creation of nuclear-weapon-
free zones, are all important contributions to
confidence-building and nuclear disarmament.
Mali is fully committed to work to halt the plague
of the proliferation of light weapons. I appeal for
greater coordinated support for regional efforts,
including support for moratoriums, respect for
embargoes on arms deliveries and the strengthening of
controls. The United Nations conference in 2001 on
this issue must give the international community an
opportunity to take appropriate steps to end the
excessive destabilizing accumulation of such weapons.
The conference must look at all aspects and be fully
transparent.
I must mention here the troubling issue of
children affected by conflict, child soldiers, for the link
between the proliferation of light weapons and the
intolerable fate of these children is only too obvious.
We have a great responsibility for them, and we must
put an end to the destruction of so many hopes. The
International Conference on War-affected Children,
held in Winnipeg, which ended just a few days ago,
was an opportunity for us all to strengthen our
commitment to guarantee all children better health,
school for all, both boys and girls, free from war,
violence and famine.
At the beginning of the third millennium one of
the most urgent tasks facing humanity is to end the
growing inequality between rich and poor countries.
We must tackle the underlying causes of conflict —
primarily their economic and social dimensions. In an
international environment that is increasingly marked
by globalization, continuing poverty is our most
difficult challenge. The problem of the debt of the
developing countries must remain our focus, because it
is a major obstacle to their development. Complete
cancellation of the debt is needed in the overall
framework of finding a new development strategy.
This new development strategy involves direct
investment, unhampered access to markets through
special, differential treatment, fair prices for our goods,
and transfers of new technology, all of which are major
factors in development. This means that financing
development must remain on our agenda. My
delegation welcomes the convening in 2001 of a high-
level conference to deal with this issue at the
intergovernmental level. The challenges of
development cannot be taken up unless there is a stable
international financial system. My country advocates a
reform of the international financial system that takes
account of the social dimension of development and
does not jeopardize nations' capacity to pursue their
national development objectives.
Africa has understood full well that its role and
place in the emerging world implies a renewed political
approach of integration and unity of our continent.
That is the backdrop to the creation of the African
Union, which calls for a united Africa, strengthened by
an integrated development of its full potential and a
heightened awareness of its strategic advantages. Mali
was the first country to ratify the Constitutive Act of
the Union, which we are convinced is the springboard
for the development of the continent, and for a
responsible Africa, an Africa that counts.
We must work together to eradicate poverty. We
have a responsibility to guarantee all human beings a
life of decency and dignity, with equal opportunities
for all peoples. We can do this. It requires enhanced
cooperation and international solidarity through a
multilateral approach guided by the United Nations.
We must promote global social development, for
we believe that excessive unshared wealth is a poor
kind of wealth, a wealth with no social value and
therefore contrary to the essence of our life.
The values that give meaning to the wealth of the
world are those of democracy. Here I refer to the strong
words of President Konaré, who rightly told the
community of democracies conference, held in
Warsaw, that the development of democracy is the
basis for a world of peace, solidarity and social justice,
15

and that only democracy can allow each of us to
shoulder the burden, but also the honour, of being a
human being and serving humankind. “What an honour
it is to be a human being!” he said.
The Ministerial Conference on Security, Stability,
Development and Cooperation in Africa said rightly
that democracy, good governance, respect for human
rights, the rights of peoples, and the rule of law, are
prerequisites to achieving security, stability and
development in Africa. Nothing must prevent open
discussion of ideas and the promotion of political
pluralism. Despite inadequacies, difficulties and
sometimes violent breakdowns, the democratic process
is gaining ground in Africa. A democratic Africa is
becoming increasingly real, but it is still a fragile
reality that must be supported and helped. Mali
welcomes the adoption last June by the [Community of
Democracies] of the Warsaw Declaration, advocating
the strengthening of cooperation among democratic
countries with a view to sharing the best practices,
protecting themselves against threats to democratic
processes, and promoting the emergence of a
partnership forum to help democracies in transition.
We must be strong against unconstitutional
change of political regimes so that we can strengthen
democracy. We must condemn such changes as a matter
of principle and there must be consequences. President
Konaré said that pressure must be credible and can
only attain its goal if the international community
adopts a firm consistent and constructive approach in
the event of any putsch or attempted coup d'état. It
must avoid encouraging those who are tempted to
violate republican and democratic rules by removing
any ambiguity. In this respect, the international
community must be clearer and more rigorous in its
approach and support the OAU which seeks to deter
putsches by taking a clear position and by imposing
political sanctions. Could this position not also be
taken up in the United Nations?
Along the same lines the establishment of the
International Criminal Court with the Rome Statues
would be a permanent body to act against impunity. It
would allow us to try those responsible for the most
horrible crimes and it would also be a tool for
deterrence that could contribute to the maintenance of
international peace and security. Mali has already
ratified the Court's Statute, thus showing that it
supports the struggle against the culture of impunity
and to ensure respect for human dignity.
In view of the progress in achieving some
settlement in the Lockerbie matter, we would call for
the definitive and immediate lifting of sanctions that
are unjustly inflicting suffering on the brother people
of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. We must be careful
about sanctions because of the humanitarian cost
involved. We must use more effective, targeted
sanctions.
On the Korean peninsula we welcome the recent
inter-Korean summit and the exchange visits by
peoples of both countries. We welcome and support
these initiatives which begin a direct dialogue between
the parties involved and promote peace and stability in
the Korean peninsula.
HIV/AIDS jeopardizes the future of millions of
men, women and children in Africa and it is also a
threat to international peace and security. A failure to
deal with this would be culpable and suicidal
indifference. In this connection we fully support the
proposal to convene a special session of the General
Assembly on AIDS.
Adapting the United Nations to the requirements
of the age is absolutely essential. The challenges facing
us in the political, economic and social areas force us
to demonstrate creativity and realism so that we can
come up with innovative and constructive suggestions
and translate them into action in the true interests of
our peoples. My delegation believes in the need to
democratize the United Nations further, to restructure
all its principal organs. Reform of the Security Council
will give effect to our desire to modernize this
important organ that the Charter makes primarily
responsible for threats to and breaches of international
peace and security. A reformed Council must be more
transparent in its working methods, more democratic,
more representative, more legitimate in its
membership, and it must be more credible in the way it
is perceived by other member States. Mali reaffirms
Africa's demand for equitable distribution of seats in
the two categories, pursuant to the Harare Declaration
adopted by the OAU Summit of Heads of State or
Government.
More than ever before the human being must be
the very heart of the new millennium. The peoples
expect the United Nations to promote and ensure a
world of progress for all, a world of peace, a world of
sharing. In this respect Mali sees the Millennium
16

Declaration as the fabric we can use to build a better
world. Now is the time for action.


I have
the honour of speaking this year on behalf of the
European Union, which France is presiding over until
the end of December.
In this capacity, it is a great pleasure for me to
congratulate the President on his election. It
symbolizes the respect the international community has
both for his country and for himself.
I would also like to thank your predecessor, Mr.
Theo-Ben Gurirab, for his skill in guiding the
proceedings of the fifty-fourth session of the General
Assembly, Mr. Sam Nujoma and Ms. Tarja Halonen for
their work with you, Mr. President, as Co-Chairpersons
of the Millennium Summit.
19

I would like to commend the Secretary-General
of the Organization, Mr. Kofi Annan. His international
action, his independence and his vision have made a
decisive contribution to asserting the key role the
United Nations plays and must continue to play. The
European Union wishes to assure him of its support for
his work and for the Organization and its
representatives.
The Millennium Summit, an unprecedented
gathering of 155 heads of State and Government,
allowed us to address the main challenges facing the
world community and the role of the United Nations in
the twenty-first century, which will begin on 1 January
2001.
The Union notes with great satisfaction that the
Summit produced a political document setting forth a
road-map for the Organization for the years to come.
These guidelines are based on ideas outlined in the
Secretary-General's report. It is now up to the General
Assembly to implement them. The Union will
contribute actively to this.
Peacekeeping, strengthening international
security and defending human rights are the central
principles underpinning the European Union's foreign
policy. Recent crises on Europe's very doorstep have
convinced us that we cannot remain idle when these
fundamental principles are violated. In this regard, the
European Union approves of the priority given to
peacekeeping during last week's meetings. Mr.
Brahimi's report offers an in-depth analysis on this
subject. It presents useful recommendations for the
mandates of peacekeeping operations, operational
planning in New York and deployment. It presents a
unique opportunity to strengthen the United Nations
capacity for peace operations. The European Union
will actively participate in considering these
recommendations.
The Union has decided to equip itself to be a
major political actor and to play its full role on the
international stage. To this end, and within a very short
time-frame, it has undertaken decisive measures. New
decision-making, action-oriented political and military
bodies have been set up: a political and security
committee, a military committee, a European Union
military staff, a situation centre and a committee for
civilian crisis management. These bodies will enable
the European Union to intervene quickly and credibly
in the management of international crises.
The European Union has also announced its
intention to establish by 2003 a force of 60,000 troops
for international missions involving the whole range of
conflict-prevention and crisis-management operations,
with the requisite air and naval support for deployment
within 60 days for a period of at least one year. This
autumn there will be a conference for the commitment
of capability at which each Member State shall pledge
its contribution to this joint endeavour.
The Union has also set ambitious and realistic
targets for developing collective capabilities. In
addition to its military resources, it will develop
civilian intervention capabilities, including a corps of
civilian police, whose contribution to peacekeeping is
invaluable. In this connection, Member States have set
themselves the goal of being able, by 2003, to provide
up to 5,000 police officers, 1,000 of whom will be
deployment-ready within 30 days.
These decisions now enable the European Union
to complement its already sizeable economic and
humanitarian programmes with the full range of
resources required for crisis management. Of course,
these activities are designed in full respect for the
principles of the United Nations Charter. Now more
than ever, it is vital to establish working ties with the
United Nations. To initiate this cooperation, the
European Union troika will discuss this issue for the
first time with the Secretary-General. On behalf of the
European Union, I hereby invite Mr. Kofi Annan to go
to Brussels for a working meeting with the organs of
the Union.
The European Union hails the considerable
efforts and determination shown by the President of the
Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Prime Minister
during recent negotiations to reach a final agreement
between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. We
welcome in particular the renewed vigour with which
very sensitive issues have been addressed at this time.
We commend President Clinton and the Secretary
of State for their unflagging efforts to facilitate
negotiations. Circumstances favourable to reconciling
positions continue to exist. We urge the parties to seize
this historic opportunity, show courage in decisive
choices, take fully into account human realities and the
recognized rights of all, and thereby achieve a final
agreement.
The European Union welcomes Israel's
withdrawal from the zone it occupied in southern
20

Lebanon. It welcomes the redeployment of the United
Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and the presence of a
joint security force, sent to the area by the Lebanese
Government. It urges all parties to fulfil their
responsibilities in order to defuse tensions. The
European Union believes that only a comprehensive
settlement encompassing every track of the peace
process, including the Israeli-Syrian track, is likely to
guarantee lasting stability in the region. It will continue
to support the efforts of the parties to this end and
contribute to the implementation of any agreements
that may be reached.
Turning to Europe, the situation in the western
Balkans is a matter of serious concern to the entire
international community. Ten years of conflict have
ravaged the region, leading to severe human suffering
and to politically unstable and therefore dangerous
situations. But beyond accumulated hardships and the
lagging economic and social development of many of
those countries, all of the peoples and nearly all of the
leaders of the region have realized that it does have a
future, and that future is Europe. Today, all Europeans
now share the belief that these countries are bound one
day to join the European Union.
This is why the European Council has reiterated
that its goal is to firmly attach the countries of the
region to Europe. This means the greatest possible
integration into the political, economic and social
currents of Europe through the stabilization and
association process, political dialogue, trade
liberalization, the harmonization of their laws with
those of the European Union, and cooperation in justice
and domestic affairs.
The assistance provided by the European Union
to countries of the region over the last 10 years —
nearly 8 billion euros — is considerable. The European
Union will continue to sustain this stabilization and
association process by providing the western Balkan
countries with massive technical, economic and
financial assistance and by granting them asymmetrical
trade advantages in farming and industry very soon,
which will pave the way for the creation of a free trade
zone with the European Union. In the context of
elections concerning almost the entire region, we will
encourage them to develop regional cooperation and to
continue to make determined efforts for political,
economic and social reform in order to consolidate
democracy and human rights, to build the rule of law
and lay the groundwork for sustainable development.
In this context, the European Union has reaffirmed its
determination to continue to be the driving force in the
Stability Pact for South-eastern Europe, which
represents a new vision of cooperation between the
countries of the region and the international
community.
The summit to be held shortly in Croatia of the
European Union and the Western Balkan countries —
on the basis of a French proposal — will signal our
common resolve to overcome the divisions of the past.
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will not be
able to participate in the conference, as the nature of its
present regime does not allow it to do so. But the Serbs
know that they have their place in the European family
and that the European Union is looking forward to the
day when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is in a
position to participate fully in the stabilization and
association process and to recover its rightful place in
Europe. The elections to be held on 24 September
could be decisive in this respect.
In Kosovo the international community, acting on
the basis of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999),
has achieved praiseworthy results. Thanks must be
given to all those who have made this possible in spite
of enormous difficulties, especially the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General, the United
Nations staff and the Kosovo Force soldiers, the many
international organizations there on the ground and the
non-governmental organizations. The first democratic
municipal elections in Kosovo, to be held in a few
weeks' time, will constitute a major step in the
implementation of resolution 1244 (1999). I would
forcefully reiterate that the international community
will not allow unacceptable acts of violence, whatever
their motivation, to cause the democratic electoral
process under way to fail. We will not let extremists
from whatever faction sabotage the work accomplished
over the past year under the auspices of the United
Nations.
The European Union considers the status quo in
Cyprus unacceptable, and it supports the efforts of the
Secretary-General to reach a negotiated,
comprehensive, fair and lasting settlement consistent
with relevant Security Council resolutions. It reiterates
its commitment to stability and prosperity throughout
the Mediterranean region. With talks beginning right
here under the auspices of the Secretary-General, it
21

invites the parties concerned to enter into substantive
talks.
The European Union is equally determined in its
support for efforts to prevent and settle conflicts in
Africa, in close cooperation with the United Nations,
the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and other
subregional organizations and in accordance with the
objectives agreed at the Africa-Europe Summit, held
last April in Cairo under the Portuguese presidency of
the European Union. It will lend its backing to the
measures taken jointly by the OAU and the United
Nations to implement the peace settlement between
Ethiopia and Eritrea. In supporting the deployment of
international observers, the European Union is also
willing to lend its support to the establishment and
demarcation of borders, to demining and to assistance
to refugees and displaced persons. It is endeavouring to
provide assistance to the war-stricken populations of
both countries, whose immense suffering has been
compounded by drought.
The European Union is deeply concerned by the
developments in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo. It calls on all parties to the Lusaka Agreement
to implement their commitments, including those made
at Kampala. This will allow for progress with respect
to the military and political provisions, all of which are
under threat due to the continued fighting and the
deadlock in preparing for a national dialogue. It also
urges them to abide by the relevant Security Council
resolutions, in particular resolution 1304 (2000), which
calls for an orderly withdrawal of foreign forces from
Congolese territory and for the cooperation of all
parties in the deployment of the United Nations
Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo (MONUC) through the lifting of restrictions
on the freedom of movement of MONUC personnel
and by ensuring their security.
The illegal exploitation of the natural resources of
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a violation of
the country's sovereignty, is also unacceptable. The
European Union therefore commends the establishment
by the Secretary-General on 15 August last of a group
of experts in charge of analysing ties between the
illegal exploitation of those riches and the continuation
of the conflict.
We are pleased to note greater awareness about
the illicit trade in diamonds and other minerals, which
directly fuels conflicts. This is the case in particular
with the illicit trade in diamonds in Angola, whereby
UNITA has been funding its war effort. We underscore
the importance of complying with Security Council
resolutions on this matter. We welcome the decision to
place this important question on the General
Assembly's agenda. The discussion should be based on
the Kimberley process. It should reflect the work of the
preparatory conference co-chaired by the United
Kingdom and Russia. Lastly, it should examine the
proposal made at Miyazaki to establish a standing
group of independent experts to formulate ways of
preventing illicit trade.
The European Union reiterates its support for
resolution 1306 (2000) on Sierra Leone, which
tightened existing arms sanctions and established an
embargo on raw diamonds illegally exported from
Sierra Leone. The European Union calls on all the
parties to the conflict to comply with the principles and
objectives of the Lomé Agreement and to be fully
involved in the re-establishment of peace and stability
and compliance with human rights in Sierra Leone.
The European Union and its member States will
continue to contribute to African capacity and means of
action in conflict prevention and resolution, in
particular through support for the OAU and
subregional organizations and initiatives.
The European Union is deeply concerned at the
situation in Myanmar. It asks the Myanmar authorities
to immediately restore Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi's
freedom of speech, movement and communication with
the outside. It is urgent for dialogue to begin between
the Myanmar authorities and the democratic
opposition, including the National League for
Democracy and national minorities. The Union
supports the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for
Burma, Mr. Razali, in his efforts to find a solution.
The European Union expresses its solidarity with
the people of East Timor and commends the work done
by the United Nations Transitional Administration in
East Timor (UNTAET) in close cooperation with the
political authorities of East Timor. It is in favour of
accelerating reconstruction assistance in order to
guarantee a successful transition and avoid any delay in
the timetable leading to independence.
We are extremely concerned by the instability
caused by the militias in both East and West Timor.
The new outbreaks of violence by them have taken the
lives of two “blue beret” peacekeepers and, more
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recently, of three personnel of the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The European Union calls on the Indonesian authorities
to adopt effective measures to control the militias
without delay.
The European Union also calls for the termination
of terrorist activity in Kashmir, the implementation of
confidence- and security-building measures and strict
respect for the line of control in order to restore a
peaceful local climate and enable the dialogue between
Pakistan and India to resume in the spirit of the Lahore
Declaration. The European Union will be looking
closely for such signs from the parties involved and
will encourage initiatives likely to resolve all the
disputes between the two countries.
It is important for the specific measures laid
down in Security Council resolution 1172 (1998) to be
implemented and for Pakistan and India to subscribe to
the international non-proliferation regime and sign the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Having advocated direct dialogue between the
two Koreas for many years, the European Union
welcomes the historic inter-Korean Summit that took
place in Pyongyang from 13-15 June this year. This is
an important step on the road to reconciliation between
the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea, opening bright prospects for
strengthening the stability of the region. We invite the
two countries, who have been members of the United
Nations since 1991, to continue this process in order to
help the Korean people heal the wounds of the past.
On the subject of Haiti, the European Union
recalls that full respect for the constitutional provisions
concerning the elections and electoral legislation
currently in force is the basis of democracy and the rule
of law.
The threat of proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction and their delivery systems is a crucial issue
that the European Union — which shares the concern
for international peace and security that ought to
inspire the nations represented here — is resolved to
combat relentlessly. To this end, international
cooperation must be stressed, along with the
development of multilateral standards for non-
proliferation, arms control and disarmament.
This is particularly true of chemical and
biological weapons, which have now been banned. The
Union is working towards the early conclusion of a
protocol containing reliable and effective verification
measures to strengthen the 1972 Convention on the
Prohibition of the Development, Production and
Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin
Weapons and on their Destruction. We are equally
determined to ensure nuclear non-proliferation and
disarmament, where so much progress has been made
since the signing of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), to which 187 States are
now parties.
Since the end of the cold war, effective
instruments for ending the arms race and achieving
disarmament have begun to see the light of day, with
the halt to testing, the treaty enshrining it, the first two
START agreements to reduce the largest nuclear
arsenals and a host of unilateral decisions following the
same trend. Our priority must be to consolidate this
mechanism. A start was made with the Review
Conferences of 1995 and 2000; the results, which we
welcome, must be fully implemented.
We must give full weight to strengthening the
safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) through the widespread implementation of the
measures contained in the 1997 Model Protocol and to
remain alert to the issue of NPT compliance. We must
also revive the momentum of the multilateral
negotiations.
The entry into force of the Comprehensive Test
Ban Treaty, the completion of the operational readiness
of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization
(CTBTO) and the negotiation at the Disarmament
Conference of a fissile material cut-off treaty are all
necessary steps that are of concern and ought to
mobilize all States, be they parties to the NPT or not.
The start of this negotiation implies urgent negotiations
on a working programme in the Conference on
Disarmament. International standards in this field can
only be effective if they are universal. Arsenal
reductions, which are the prime responsibility of the
nuclear-weapon States, must also be continued. This
will enable us to move closer to our common
objectives — namely, the elimination of nuclear
weapons and general, comprehensive disarmament
under strict and effective international control.
The issue of small arms and light weapons is just
as sensitive in many regions of the world. It deserves
special attention. The 15 European Union members
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will contribute to the preparation of the United Nations
Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and
Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, which will take place
during the summer of 2001, with the objective of
obtaining a positive and enforceable plan of action to
combat the destabilizing accumulation and spread of
small arms and light weapons. At the same time, the
Union shall continue its drive for the implementation
of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use,
Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel
Mines and on their Destruction. It will join in the
efforts to achieve the total elimination of anti-
personnel mines.
On the very important subject of human rights,
the European Union will continue to support the efforts
of the United Nations to reach the goal set by the
Secretary-General to put human rights at the heart of
every aspect of its work. The best guarantee of solid
progress in this area is each person's awareness of the
importance of human rights and democracy and the
emergence of groups who actively promote them in
every country. In this connection, the European Union
welcomes the designation, thanks to the support of
many countries, of the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders, Ms.
Jilani; we welcome her appointment and assure her of
our full backing as she undertakes her duties.
This year the United Nations has once again
demonstrated that it is the main forum of progress in
setting standards for human rights, as witnessed by the
adoption of two optional protocols to the Convention
on the Rights of the Child on the sexual exploitation of
children and on children in armed conflicts. This
represents a major step forward in favour of the
protection of children. The European Union intends to
contribute actively to the special session of the United
Nations General Assembly for the follow-up to the
World Children's Summit, to be held next year, which
will give the international community yet another
opportunity to help this cause move forward.
Another important task, the World Conference
Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia
and Related Intolerance, lies ahead. At the European
Preparatory Conference, to be held in October under
the auspices of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg,
the European Union will demonstrate its commitment
to combat all expressions of racism, whatever form
they take. The Union, all of whose members have
abolished the death penalty, calls on States that have
not yet done so to adopt a moratorium as a first step
towards the eventual abolition of this punishment,
which is contrary to human dignity.
The European Union will endeavour to strengthen
international cooperation in the fight against terrorism
and will play an active role in the negotiations to be
held to that end. It earnestly hopes that this General
Assembly will adopt the Convention Against
Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols at the
Palermo Conference next December. Given that such
crime, that one of its most odious manifestations is the
trafficking in human beings, and that it poses an ever-
growing threat to our societies, it is vital for the
international community to develop the means to
cooperate and fight against it effectively.
Lastly, the European Union looks forward to the
early establishment of the International Criminal Court.
I would like to recall that ratification by 42 States is
still needed for this.
By way of conclusion, I would like to stress one
last point, and that is sustainable development. The
European Union's contribution to international
cooperation is substantial. With 30 per cent of the
global gross domestic product, the Union contributes
36 per cent of the United Nations regular budget and
39 per cent of the peacekeeping budget. As you know,
it also contributes the rather large amount of around 55
per cent of the world total of official development
assistance. We are pleased with everything that was
said last week on this extremely important matter, and
we will continue our exemplary work on sustainable
development. Indeed, we believe that development is
one of the key ways of resolving all of the problems
facing us throughout the world, as outlined in my
statement, and the European Union wishes to express
its strong, continuing commitment to that end.