At the outset, I would like to
congratulate Mr. Gurirab on his election to preside over this
historic session of the General Assembly. It is a tribute to
his rich experience and to his great country, Namibia.
His predecessor, Mr. Didier Opertti of Uruguay, also
deserves our appreciation for the excellent manner in
which he discharged his important responsibilities.
Permit me also to pay tribute to the
Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his dedication and
commitment to the ideals of the United Nations.
As we meet for the final session of this century, and,
indeed, of this millennium, we are faced with a future that
holds for us promises and perils, hopes and fears,
opportunities and challenges. We cannot secure a better
future unless the root causes of the problems of our times
are resolved. The United Nations, as the only truly global
Organization, is best suited to address these problems. Its
role, therefore, must be reaffirmed and must remain
central to our efforts in the reconstruction of a more just
world order where human security is guaranteed.
Since the establishment of this Organization, small
States have earned a legitimate voice in multilateral
diplomacy. I am delighted today to welcome the three
new Members of the United Nations, the Republic of
Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of
Tonga. As small States, Maldives and the three new
Members share numerous interests and concerns which
are vital to our common survival and progress.
We stand at a crossroads. This is an ideal
opportunity to review our past performance and to map
out innovative approaches to address existing and
emerging problems. As we get ready to enter the new
century and the new millennium, we in the Maldives have
developed Vision 2020 for our country, based on the
lessons of the past. The Vision sets out major directions
for the next two decades. We envision a community that
is just, caring and peaceful. Our country must continue to
be one in which good governance, democracy and the
welfare of the people are given the highest priority. We
seek a society where gender equality is a reality and
where everyone has the opportunity for self-actualization.
We want our children to be happy, creative and safe.
These aims can be realized only through a high level
of economic achievement and social progress. However,
our resources are meagre. We face numerous natural
hazards and are vulnerable to a wide range of man-made
threats. Nevertheless, we remain firm in our determination
to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves. But for
36

that to happen, our own efforts must be supplemented by a
supportive international environment. That much we need
and that much we seek.
Nevertheless, the withdrawal of that supportive
framework seems, regrettably, to be imminent. The
Maldives has been earmarked for graduation from the list
of least developed countries (LDC) next year. We do not
feel entirely comfortable with the LDC label. Indeed, we
would like to enter the new millennium as a self-reliant
country. National pride, however, cannot transcend harsh
economic reality. Our economy is small and narrowly
based. Capacity for economic diversification in the
immediate future is limited. Graduation would therefore
impose unbearable burdens on us. The General Assembly
is to review the graduation process and its criteria this year.
I appeal to you to consider the realities on the ground. I
call upon you to look beyond abstract indicators to the
inherent vulnerabilities of small States. My President has
already conveyed our concerns in detail to the President of
the Economic and Social Council. The Commonwealth has
strongly supported our case.
The liberalization of trade and the globalization of the
economy have created windows of opportunity for increased
economic growth. Their impact, though, has created a
particularly difficult economic road for developing
countries. Globalization must progress without
marginalization and without further impoverishment. The
seven nations of the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) are working together to enhance our
prospects in the new international economic climate through
greater regional cooperation.
Yet, ominously, on a global scale the gulf between
rich and poor nations has reached tragic proportions. These
harsh economic realities have been accompanied by the
fragmentation of the international will to foster greater
equality. Aid programmes had previously supplemented
domestic savings in recipient countries, but today they are
not even adequate to save the destitute, leaving many
developing countries with little choice but to replace their
visions of advancement with those of survival and life-
support. The world's present focus on poverty eradication
only underscores its past failure to narrow the gap between
the rich and the poor. It is disheartening to note that the
gap has more than doubled since 1950.
I am happy that a number of international initiatives
on social issues have taken place during this decade. The
Maldives attaches great importance to the fulfilment of the
Copenhagen commitments and the implementation of the
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. We look
forward to their review meetings next year to give a fresh
impetus to our action. In South Asia, the Maldives has
called for the drawing up of a social charter that will
institutionalize social development in the region. We are
also pressing for a SAARC convention on regional
arrangements to promote and protect child welfare. I hope
that the convention will be adopted as we mark the tenth
anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The international social agenda is indeed a
demanding one. It cannot be addressed by national
Governments acting alone. Cooperation among States and
partnerships with inter-governmental and non-
governmental organizations are essential for victory on
this front. At the same time, our approach to economic
performance needs to be re-oriented towards human
security and ecological safety. We need to temper our
obsession over economic growth with concerns for the
quality of life. We all accept the importance of
sustainable development. We all agree on the need for
effective global action to achieve environment-friendly
progress. Yet, the clear message that has emerged from
the review of the Barbados Programme of Action
completed this week is that of weak commitment and
poor implementation. Our deeds must match the
sentiments we have expressed. We must deliver on our
promises.
Small island developing States have few options that
they can pursue on their own. International cooperation is
vital to ensure that sustainable development strategies are
viable for them. It is also necessary to help them adapt to
the dangers posed by global warming and climate change.
As we have reiterated on numerous occasions, the
Maldives could very well cease to exist if the sea level
rises by one metre. Many other low-lying regions would
suffer a similar fate. Should the sea level rise by one
metre, the developed countries too would be affected
significantly, and the direct impact on biodiversity would
be unfathomable. The Maldives is therefore deeply
disappointed by the lack of action in implementing the
Barbados pledges.
While great Powers may be able to look after their
own security needs, the small States need to rely on
institutions of collective security. I am happy to recall that
10 years ago, the Assembly adopted resolution 44/51,
which recognized that the international community has an
obligation to make provision for the protection and
security of small States. We are grateful for the support
37

of the international community for our initiative on this
issue, but we remain concerned that time and again the
response of the United Nations to crises, especially those
involving small States, has been found wanting in speed
and in effectiveness.
It is a pity that we have to enter the new century and
the new millennium still carrying baggage containing many
unresolved and deep-seated problems that confronted the
United Nations at its birth.
One such problem is the Middle East problem. Peace
in the Middle East still remains elusive. Hesitant steps have
been taken, but many issues remain unresolved. The
Maldives has welcomed the Middle East peace process
from the beginning. We are disappointed at its slow
progress and look forward to a more earnest and bold
search for peace. Once again, we express our full support
to the Palestinian cause and call for the full implementation
of the relevant United Nations resolutions on lasting peace
in the region.
Eight years after the Gulf war, there are still many
unresolved issues that affect the security and progress of
the region. The Maldives calls upon all parties concerned
to fully comply with the resolutions of the United Nations
on the subject. We regret the suspension of talks between
Kuwait and Iraq on outstanding bilateral issues, including
that of missing persons, and believe that the resolution of
these issues should be pursued within the existing
framework of relevant United Nations resolutions. The
Maldives reaffirms its unwavering support for the
independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of
Kuwait. We reiterate our belief that the United Nations has
an obligation to uphold the security and territorial integrity
of all Member States, including smaller States.
The post-cold-war years have seen the bitter betrayal
of the promise of greater freedom and development. Rather
than seeing a celebration of human rights and the legitimate
rights of communities to their own identity and cultural
values, arrogant ethnocentrism and intolerance appear to be
rampant. Indeed, the violent disintegration of States and
civil wars have led to the most gruesome crimes against
humanity. Genuine aspirations have often been met with
brutal force, as in Bosnia and Kosovo. Protracted disputes,
such as in Kashmir, are continuing to exact a high price in
human lives and constantly endanger security at both the
regional and international levels.
Strategies of nuclear deterrence which presumably rely
on the credible threat of mass destruction cannot be
justified on moral grounds. We welcome the steps that are
being taken to increase nuclear safety. We continue to be
alarmed by the increased risk of nuclear war that
accompanies proliferation. The Maldives is a staunch
supporter of non-proliferation. We firmly believe that the
world will be a safer place without nuclear weapons. We
hope that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (NPT) review process will find ways to achieve
progress in all aspects of the non-proliferation regime.
The continuation of many conflicts and the flaring
up of others call into question the efficacy of this
Organization. It is not only the passage of time that
demands the reform and restructuring of the United
Nations. The most persuasive argument is the urgent need
to increase the ability of the United Nations to realize the
objectives for which it has been set up. Whatever reform
is undertaken should be instrumental in that sense.
Reform must enhance its legitimacy. Reform must make
the United Nations more democratic and transparent, and
it must also reinforce the United Nations ability to uphold
equality among nations.
As we step into the new century, the world has
reached a major turning point. We are bidding farewell to
one millennium and are marching with determination into
a new one. It is one in which a stronger commitment to
multilateralism will be essential. Many of the hazards that
we are faced with do not recognize national borders. The
world has become closely integrated, and communities
have become highly interwoven across national frontiers,
necessitating global approaches to global problems.
Advances in science and technology give us cause for
optimism in our efforts to overcome several of the
challenges that confront us today. These are assisted by
new mindsets of cooperation and emotional intelligence.
We need to nurture the positive strands and prune the
negative. Yet the new century will not usher in a new age
unless hope and progress become universal.
The new millennium will not set an enlightened
course for world politics until right can triumph over
might and double standards give way to justice for all.
That is the millennium challenge.


It is an
honour for me to address this Assembly. I bring to all
greetings and good wishes from His Majesty Norodom
Sihanouk, King of Cambodia, and from the people and
19

the Royal Government of Cambodia. I should like to inform
the Assembly about the recent strides Cambodia has made
and about how it stands ready to fulfil its role in the
community of nations. I wish also to share with the
Assembly some humble thoughts on global events of the
past and responsibilities for the future.
First of all, on behalf of the delegation of the
Kingdom of Cambodia, and on my own behalf, I would
like to extend heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Theo-Ben
Gurirab on his election as the President of the General
Assembly at its fifty-fourth session. We wish him success
in his important work and pledge him our full support and
cooperation.
Allow me also to express my sincere thanks and
admiration to Mr. Didier Opertti, President of the General
Assembly at its fifty-third session, for his benevolent
leadership and guidance.
I also wish to take this opportunity, on behalf of the
Royal Government and the people of Cambodia, to warmly
welcome the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru
and the Kingdom of Tonga to the United Nations.
Just in the past year, Cambodia has finally turned a
corner of history, putting firmly behind it the darkness of
its recent past and emerging into the new dawn of its
future. For the first time in many decades, Cambodia is
now a fully integrated country, without rebels or separatists
and without internal strife or conflict. The black chapter of
strife, violence, turbulence and turmoil is finally closed.
Last year we held open and free general elections on our
own, assisted and witnessed closely by the international
community, which pronounced them fully free and fair.
After considerable discussions among the main elected
parties concerning a common platform to serve the cause of
the country and its people, a new coalition Government is
now in place.
The last remnants of the genocidal Khmer Rouge have
either surrendered or been captured, and are in custody
awaiting trial for their crimes of genocide. We are firmly
resolved to do whatever is needed to ensure an open trial
for those responsible for genocidal crimes perpetrated in the
country in the past. In holding this trial, we will carefully
balance the need to provide our people, who were the
victims of this genocidal regime, with justice in order
finally to put behind us that dark chapter in our national
history, and the paramount need for continued national
reconciliation and the preservation of the hard-earned peace,
national independence and sovereignty which we value
most highly.
Peace, which was so elusive for many decades past,
now finally prevails throughout the country. Cambodia
has joined that important regional group, the Association
of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and is determined
to play its responsible role in regional and international
affairs.
Cambodia and its people are committed to pluralist
democracy and to upholding and protecting human dignity
and human rights. We will be guided and governed to in
all our efforts by the pursuit of the rule of law, which
provides equality for all before the law and ensures that
legal procedures and practices are the same for all and
that the law is enforced through a competent and
impartial judiciary system with built-in procedures for
appeal and for rendering judgment.
On the economic front, we have pursued and will
continue to pursue market-oriented policies, with safety
nets for the vulnerable sectors of society until they are
able to compete on an equal footing with others. Our
principal goal is poverty alleviation. Our economic
policies and practices, with generous external
assistance — for which we are grateful — have resulted
in steady growth over the past few years. Even during the
financial melt-down in the region two years ago the
Cambodian economy maintained a fairly even keel.
Moreover, with strong political will, the Royal
Government is implementing its policy platform and
reform programmes with a view to establishing a viable
foundation for long-term economic growth and sustainable
development. The key areas of the reform programmes
include military and police demobilization; public sector
reform aimed at strengthening democracy; improving
public services and increasing their efficiency; enhancing
the rule of law and respect for human rights; and
economic reforms focused on maintaining macroeconomic
stability: strengthening banking and financial institutions,
fiscal reform, sound management of public property and
increased public investment in physical and social
infrastructure and human resource development.
So now, as the century ends, we can say with
confidence that we are firmly back on track as one
unified nation — unified in our desire not to be drawn
into the divisive factions of the past, but rather to play
our part in the comity of nations for a better future for all
mankind. We look to the future with great optimism born
20

out of our own achievements in political reconciliation,
compromise and adaptation placing the people’s longer-term
interests above narrow and short-term partisan gains, and
out of our sound economic and social policies. We are both
determined and confident that Cambodia will march ahead
into the next century, and millennium, with renewed
confidence and vigour, and that it will contribute to human
progress.
This is a historic session which affords us all an
opportunity — indeed compels us — to reflect on the past
and plan our planet’s future together. Looking at a wider
perspective, we can see that humanity has witnessed
unimaginable and immeasurably great change and progress
over the last millennium. Progress in science and
technology has helped us conquer deadly diseases, extend
and enhance human life and improve the human condition.
We have vastly increased our understanding of our planet
and our universe. We have annihilated distance and
improved communications to make our Earth a global
village indeed.
Much of our technological progress and many notable
achievements have indeed occurred in the last mere
hundred years, and the more we advance, the more
possibilities for achievement arise.
Yet our achievements also mask many continued
failings and appear to give rise to potential dangers. On a
planetary level, we have vastly depleted our natural
resources, mining and using non-renewable resources at a
rapid rate; destroying our forests; depleting our oceans;
polluting resources that are essential to our very survival,
such as air and water; and driving to extinction rare species
of fauna and flora, the value of whose contributions to
balance and harmony in nature we have yet to understand.
We have acquired weapons of awesome power that
can destroy all that we have accomplished and built. The
technological revolution that we have witnessed in this
century has gone so far that human morals have yet to
catch up with it. We have deployed vast efforts and
resources — intellectual, physical and financial — to
achieve this tremendous progress in science and technology,
but we must be sure that these accomplishments can be
harnessed and will serve only to increase the well-being of
humankind instead of destroying it.
The greatest concern of the coming century is that the
revolutionary progress in science and technology achieved
over the past 100 years has resulted in, among other
things, the production of all kinds of weapons of mass
destruction. As a result, there are now countless arms
factories and a huge stock of modern weapons in many
countries worldwide. Meanwhile, the modernization of
armed forces — which is actually an arms race —
continues unabated, in parallel with the many conflicts
that are spreading throughout the world. Where will this
situation lead us? This century has witnessed two great
wars, unleashed by intolerance and bigotry, which caused
more division in their wake. More and more lives are
being lost. Social tensions and hatred abound, caused by
religious and other differences. The world has reached a
stage of complete disorder, where the rich and mighty
impose their agenda on the poor and force the weak to
follow them.
We must also stress that scientific and technological
research, which has been conducted in a morally
irresponsible manner, has turned our world into one of
drug production, where most of the discoveries have been
made by the developed countries but have had a
destructive impact on poor developing countries. The
world is facing many fundamental challenges, such as
organized crime, drug and human trafficking, and so on,
that jeopardize the future of coming generations.
In addition, the gap between the rich and the poor,
the mighty and the meek, and the haves and have-nots
have widened. We have lost the art of sharing and caring.
Our numbers have multiplied many times, but science has
yet to find ways to feed future billions and to stretch
mother earth’s capacity to sustain us. The aging of our
people will pose immense challenges for future
generations, when fewer productive people will have to
meet the needs of larger numbers of dependents, young
and old alike. Half a billion people live in abject poverty,
while a few enjoy conspicuous comfort. The poor,
vulnerable and oppressed suffer everywhere because of
exploitation and neglect.
In our rapid progress and our daily race to achieve
more and temporarily resolve problems as they arise, we
seem not to pay attention to the longer-term future. The
dawn of the next millennium is forcing us to pause and
reflect. In the past, human destiny has from time to time
been guided by far-seeing messiahs and visionaries. But
we cannot afford to wait for another messiah to appear.
Since all our religions teach us that there is a messiah
deep down in each one of us, that is where we must
search for answers. Let not the arrogance of our justified
achievements lull us into inaction for the future.
21

World leaders have a rare and grave responsibility to
carry out this soul-searching. It is given to few of us to
undertake the task of charting the future as the next
millennium dawns. We have to set aside our daily chores
and power games and devote our attention to long-term
problems. A few hours or days of reflection in 2000 will
determine the destiny of the next thousand years and more
for humankind and for mother earth. Let us for a time
forget all our differences; imagine that there are no national
boundaries or religious, racial or regional differences; and
devote our attention to the most important and essential
areas we must address in the next four to five years in
order to set our planet on the correct course for the future.
We do not need long, drawn-out academic conferences of
every kind and on every subject to do this. We do not need
volumes of position papers. We need only to trust our
collective knowledge; the lessons of the past, which are
immense; and our innate basic good instincts.
In this spirit, I would like to express Cambodia’s
strong support for the 2000 millennium summit of the
leaders of all countries, where — without having to watch
our sound-bites, pose for the cameras or please domestic
audiences — we can talk of our planet and humankind and
of what needs to be done. The overarching need is to
ensure that the Cambodian Buddhist concept of “Dharma”,
or its equivalent in every religion, be respected, and that we
do what past messiahs have enjoined us to do. In essence,
we must lead a balanced and tolerant life, in harmony with
oneself, with one’s neighbours, with other beings, with
nature and with the cosmos. Perhaps we have to visualize
and devise new institutions and agendas, or significantly
reshape and redirect existing ones, to guide us through the
beginning of the next millennium.
We also have to set short- to medium-term agendas of
a more practical nature. Of topmost priority is the need to
eradicate poverty, a continuing scourge and stigma for
humanity. We should devise steps to achieve this in the
first 10 years of the next century. With sharing from the
rich to the poor, internationally and within countries, this is
not an impossible task. Already the G-8 nations have
agreed to forgo past debts of poorer nations. This trend
needs to continue, and future assistance should largely be
through well-monitored grants rather than loans.
Secondly, we must preserve and enhance our
environment and ecology. We have already seen how some
areas try to dispose of their contaminated wastes in other
places. It is necessary to stop the generation of wastes or to
contain their levels at the source. In some cases we have to
slow, or sacrifice current consumption, but this takes
vision and determination.
Last but not least, we need to re-evaluate the roles
of common institutions and focus on their positive
aspects. The United Nations has served us well for more
than half a century. It has done commendable work
beyond its original mandate and has adapted to changing
needs. It has been a platform for defining common goals.
But we need to show more dedicated determination to rid
it of functions, committees and forums which have lost
relevance or usefulness.
Within the United Nations much has been
accomplished under the bold and visionary leadership of
the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, and we all pay tribute
to his wisdom and managerial abilities. Yet some
challenges remain including further efforts to curtail the
burgeoning budget levels. Cambodia supports the need to
reform the United Nations. The Organization and its
specialized organs need to become more unified at the
country level under the mechanism of the United Nations
resident coordinator. In other words, there should be a
single United Nations presence in each country, with
specialized organs serving under one leadership, much
like an ambassador providing an overall umbrella for all
the activities of his country in a host country.
With this reform, our world body will be required to
improve the criteria for recruiting staff and officials for
posting in various United Nations agencies, especially for
posting in member countries. Otherwise, they will
consider themselves almighty gods, without any virtue,
ready to violate the sovereignty of a member country,
which has paid considerable membership dues to pay their
high salaries. In this regard, Cambodia has had some
experience in the history of its cooperation with some
United Nations officials.
The Kingdom of Cambodia deems it necessary, on
the other hand, to abide strictly by the United Nations
Charter and to reinforce the role of the Security Council
in the process of maintaining peace in the world. We
appeal to the international community to make further
contributions to the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), so that it can continue to provide
development aid to the least developed countries.
We also think that punishing poor people of the least
developed countries, by imposing sanctions and economic
blockade to achieve one’s political agenda, goes against
the principle of humanity and respect for human rights
22

and for the right to self-determination of the people living
in the affected country. Therefore, Cambodia fully supports
the demand of many countries for the immediate removal
of the economic blockade imposed on Cuba.
Cambodia fully welcomes the decision of the
Government of Indonesia to accept the multinational
peacekeeping forces of the United Nations so as to restore
and strengthen order and stability in East Timor. We
cherish the strong hope that the multinational peacekeeping
forces of the United Nations will effectively cooperate with
the Indonesian Government to quickly and successfully
create a peaceful situation for the people of East Timor.
In closing, let me once again appeal to world leaders
to use the opportunity of the dawn of the new millennium
to carefully evaluate our achievements and their costs, as
well as the future perils that confront us, and to consider
important steps to establish a new world order that will take
this planet safely through the next thousand years. The
lessons of the past should steer us towards ensuring lasting
legacies for generations yet to be born. Cambodia stands
ready to join in this global effort.


I wish most
heartily to congratulate you, Sir, on your election to lead
this body at this most significant time, as we stand at the
threshold of the new millennium. I am persuaded that
your antecedents, both in your own country and here at
the United Nations, have eminently prepared you for the
role that you have been elected to fill. I, for my part,
pledge the total support and assistance of my delegation
for the accomplishment of your great task.
I would also like to pay tribute to the work of your
predecessor, the Foreign Minister of Uruguay, a
representative of the Group of Latin America and
Caribbean States, who steered the General Assembly
through the difficult period of the fifty-third session.
Once again, I would like to express my unreserved
esteem for the Secretary-General, whose charm, affability
and intellect have been of great benefit to the United
Nations system. It is clear to all that Mr. Kofi Annan is
making a unique contribution to the development of this,
our Organization. My country, Saint Kitts and Nevis, its
Government, its people and myself heartily commend the
Secretary-General.
May I take this opportunity to say a word of
welcome and congratulations to the three new Member
States admitted at the opening of this fifty-fourth session:
the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the
Kingdom of Tonga. As representative of a small island
State from the Caribbean, I am happy to welcome them
as small island States from the Pacific region. I recognize
that even though they have only now attained full
membership in the United Nations they are well seized of
their obligations and they will play their full part in
upholding the principles of the Charter. Once again I
congratulate them and wish them well for the future.
23

When this Organization was formed, some 54 years
ago, it ushered in bright hopes and held out bright promise.
It was an Organization dedicated to the ending of war and
the enhancement of peace. Nations were to have beaten
their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning
hooks. I wish that, as we come to the end of the twentieth
century and embark upon the twenty-first, we really could
have celebrated this bright new world. But even now,
during the closing months of the closing year of the
millennium, mankind has been afflicted by violence and
brutality, and man's inhumanity to man has been expressed
in some of the most outrageous fashions.
The recent development in Kosovo, the terribly
disturbing stories of the human tragedy that befell its
people, the injustices that were highlighted during that
conflict — all this constitutes a severe limitation in the
work of the United Nations.
My Government takes the view that genocidal activity,
from whichever sources it emanates, is unacceptable and a
violation of international law. The United Nations must
therefore be vigilant as it continues its pacification efforts.
Now that the job of rebuilding is under way, let us look
forward — look forward with hope to an era of peace and
reconstruction — and let us hope that what may have
seemed initially a failure may turn out to be part of the
striking success of the United Nations.
As if there is to be no respite from the challenges
affecting this body, while we thought we were overcoming
the problems of Kosovo there flared up the problem of East
Timor. Saint Kitts and Nevis, as a small State, has been
appalled at the wanton violence and death visited upon the
East Timorese people since the referendum. This world
body must roundly condemn the inhumane activities
perpetrated against the people of East Timor only because
in seeking to fulfil their aspirations to live as a sovereign
people, they gave legitimate expression them.
My Government would like to commend the work of
the Secretary-General and all others who have sought to
pull us back from this abyss of human disaster. Saint Kitts
and Nevis urges the Indonesian authorities to discharge
their obligations with maturity and to work together with
the international community for the preservation of the
peace and the protection of the people of East Timor. We
welcome the acceptance by the Indonesian authorities of an
international protective force and we pray that the people of
East Timor will have their rights respected and be able to
develop in freedom and democracy. We commend the
recent commitment of the international community to the
reconstruction and development of Kosovo and, now, to
the people of East Timor.
We still hope, however, that there will be equal
responsiveness to the people of the Great Lakes region
and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.
Since I have referred to the outrages in areas of the
world which constitute a dark blot on the human
condition, perhaps I ought to balance my remarks by
recognizing that, in one area of the world, the Middle
East, where peace for such a long time seemed illusive,
a process of peace is now finally under way. I should
place on record the appreciation of my country for all
those who are assisting in the process of peace. We must
continue to support the efforts of the peacemakers in
order to ensure that the rhetoric of violence is silenced.
Saint Kitts and Nevis urges the United Nations and
fellow world leaders to work towards preserving the
integrity of the country and the people of Kuwait and to
ensure that they enjoy the dignity of life without fear. The
territorial integrity of their national must be respected and
preserved and the Security Council solution concerning
Iraqi aggression in Kuwait should be fully implemented.
By the same token, Saint Kitts and Nevis notes the
peace process in Ireland and compliments all those who
are contributing to the process. The world community
should give its support to this initiative so that those who
are seeking to retard the process of peaceful development
will find no encouragement.
At this point, Saint Kitts and Nevis would like to
express profound condolences to the Government of the
Republic of China on Taiwan on the loss of lives which
resulted from the recent devastating earthquake. We hope
that the process of recovery will be speedy. I call on the
international community, therefore, to come to the
assistance of Taiwan, which in times past has assisted
willingly in bringing relief to countries facing similar
disasters.
Let me know say a word about the unsettled issue of
the Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. In
doing so, let me first make it clear that it never has been
and is not now the intention of my country to interfere in
the internal affairs or to give offence to any State
Member of the United Nations. Saint Kitts and Nevis is
persuaded that the Chinese people have the capacity and
the accumulated wisdom to find a solution to whatever
their differences appear to be, but our relationship with
24

the authorities of the Republic of China, with whom we
have conducted diplomatic relations since our independence
in 1983, convinces me that the 22 million Chinese on
Taiwan have a valuable contribution which they can make
to international dialogue. The record of their development
as a freedom-loving, peaceful, pluralistic democracy; the
miraculous rebuilding of their economy; and their
contribution to developing countries are all attributes which,
in our view, require that they be recognized as being
capable of making a contribution in international forums,
including those of the United Nations.
In addition to the scourges of human conflict, there are
other evils which still stare us in the face in these last few
months of the closing year of the century. Poverty still
confronts the vast majority of mankind. Children are still
dying of malnutrition and some, in order to get food, have
to allow themselves to be victimized and turned into cannon
fodder. Some still do not get an education. Indeed, there are
many children around the world who do not enjoy a
childhood. I am happy that the United Nations has declared
the decade beginning 2001 to be the International Decade
for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children
of the World. The new millennium belongs to our children.
It belongs to our children in Saint Kitts and Nevis and to
the children of the world. We have a duty to help make, for
them and with them, a better world than the one in which
we now live.
Additionally, I have noted that the agenda for this
fifty-fourth session includes an item entitled “Building a
peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic
ideal”. Saint Kitts and Nevis wishes to place on record its
country's support for that item, as we are doing everything
in our power to build the development of our youth through
sports.
By the same token, I am proud to report that our
educational policies are yielding very positive results. We
in Saint Kitts and Nevis have achieved a 98 per cent
literacy rate and we have not only begun, but are
intensifying the process of making all of our young people
computer-literate and equipped to face the challenges of the
new dawning century. Saint Kitts and Nevis welcomes the
assistance of the international community to enable us to
realize our objectives in this regard and to give this
programme even greater forward thrust.
It is our view that the technological advancement of
the past 54 years, instead of creating dislocations, should be
used to improve understanding. It should be used to
improve efficiency of production and to provide better
revenue allocation and better living standards. Saint Kitts
and Nevis urges those countries with the wherewithal to
demonstrate appropriate leadership. I encourage them to
use the availability of and their access to these
technologies not only to generate greater economic wealth
for themselves, but also to advance the economic and
social well-being of the citizens of the world.
We applaud the progress being made with regard to
women in development since the adoption of the Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action at the Fourth World
Conference on Women on 15 September 1995. Our
country has demonstrated its unswerving commitment to
gender equity by our participation in the Committee on
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). For its part,
Saint Kitts and Nevis is currently implementing a new
gender management system and is introducing measures
to ensure that the national budget in my country is more
sensitive to gender issues. We are grateful to the
Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation for
technical assistance in this regard.
In a few days, the United Nations will convene a
special session of the General Assembly for the review
and appraisal of the implementation of the Barbados
Programme of Action for the small island developing
States. We trust that the international community will give
due recognition to the efforts being made by small island
States to implement their commitments under the
Programme of Action and note that those efforts have
been affected by financial and other resource constraints
and by global, economic and environmental factors. We
look forward, therefore, to the international community's
providing continued support for capacity- and institution-
building programmes and projects in the small island
developing States.
In the meantime, my Government welcomes the
continued efforts of the Alliance of Small Island States
(AOSIS) in promoting the interests and concerns of small
island States. All small island developing States, like
those of us in the Caribbean, are susceptible to the
vagaries of nature as well as to man-made difficulties.
Just last week our brothers and sisters in the Bahamas,
like those along the south-eastern coastal states of the
United States of America, suffered terrible and destructive
losses as a result of hurricane Floyd. I urge States
Members of the United Nations to be generous in their
support for any reconstruction endeavours for the
thousands of displaced people.
25

Last year Saint Kitts and Nevis suffered a similar
major blow, from hurricane Georges. The Assembly
expressed its support for the efforts of my Government, and
several other governments in the region, as we coped with
that particular disaster. The Assembly also urged all States
as a matter of urgency to contribute generously to the relief,
rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. It further requested
the Secretary-General, in collaboration with the
international financial institutions and other bodies and
agencies of the United Nations system, to assist the affected
Governments in identifying their medium- and long-term
needs and in mobilizing resources, as well as helping with
the task of rehabilitation and reconstruction in the affected
Caribbean countries.
I have dealt with this at some length because Saint
Kitts and Nevis wishes to thank the Assembly for the
support expressed in that decision. We hereby place on
record that we have received assistance from the United
Nations system and, in particular, from the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), and I assure the
representatives in this world body that our efforts at
rehabilitation have proceeded with what some have
described as remarkable speed. But, however commendable
emergency assistance is, it is not a formula for long-term,
sustainable development. Countries such as ours need the
continued support of the international community to ensure
that our development is not sacrificed on the altar of
globalization and trade liberalization.
How will the banana farmers in Saint Lucia, Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica, or the sugar-
cane workers in Saint Kitts and Nevis preserve the integrity
of their families? How will they preserve the dignity of a
good standard of living when the impersonal tentacles of
globalization reach out to deprive them of the resources
they need to survive? Human rights, in their purest and
most practical sense, embody the human condition in all its
basic elements. Therefore, the United Nations, as a major
guarantor of these rights, should act as a counterbalance to
globalization, which has begun to take food away from our
people instead of helping them.
The World Trade Organization is expected to play a
key role in promoting trade liberalization, thereby fuelling
the globalization process. The World Trade Organization,
however, is not a panacea for the ills of world trade. No
new rules can alter the fact that in most areas of exports,
developed countries will have a comparative advantage over
developing countries. It is a basic principle in economics
that a country with a comparative advantage in producing
goods and services in given areas will always make money
at the expense of countries that are less equipped. In
short, the rules as now written will inevitably lead to a
zero-sum situation where trade between developed
countries and developing countries is concerned.
A regime, therefore, of unrestricted trade can lead to
tremendous shocks in the economy of the less developed
countries with very critical repercussions for their
citizens. As part of the Caribbean Community, we have
already witnessed how the logic of applying the same
rules to all, regardless of the level of economic
development, has led to serious dislocation within the
banana-producing countries of our Caribbean subregion.
Saint Kitts and Nevis would prefer to see this body,
through the United Nations Conference on Trade on
Development (UNCTAD), take up the issue of what
happens to countries caught in the toils of a free-trade
regime. Saint Kitts and Nevis believes that this matter
requires careful study by experts with a global perspective
and it is our view that the United Nations is the one
Organization capable of studying this issue objectively
and putting recommendations before the leaders of the
world to remedy what could potentially be a disaster for
small, vulnerable economies.
By and large, a country such as Saint Kitts and
Nevis, which depends upon a buoyant tourist sector, the
export of sugar and the provision of financial services
cannot — I repeat, cannot — object in principle to a
world of open economies. But our position is that a world
economic order predicated upon open economies works
best with countries whose economies are roughly equal.
If we are committed to eradicating poverty in every area
of this world, then we must address the implications for
poverty that are inherent in trading arrangements.
Those of us who live in the Caribbean, mostly in
developing countries and small island States, are
vulnerable and also affected by, inter alia, lack of
capacity and human resource bases, the need for financial
resources, social problems, high levels of poverty and the
effects of globalization. We rely heavily on the coastal
areas, as well as the marine environment in general, to
achieve sustainable development, and meet our needs and
goals. For us, in the context of sustainable development,
the Caribbean Sea must be seen as a special area. Saint
Kitts and Nevis earnestly expects that Member States, the
international community and the United Nations system
will actively support our efforts in order to develop and
implement this concept and take action so as to avert the
26

threat of pollution from ship-generated waste, as well as
accidental release of hazardous and noxious substances.
Despite the socio-economic quagmire that bedevils and
undermines our efforts, my Government has remained
steadfast. It has remained committed to create more
opportunities for the people of Saint Kitts and Nevis. But
we are aware that the Government cannot solve these
problems alone. There is a critical role for the private sector
as well. My Government is equally committed to working
with local and international businesses, without, however,
surrendering the fate of our nation to disinterested forces
that could wreak further havoc on their lives.
My Government repeats its call for an expansion of
the interpretation of human rights to incorporate fully
economic rights and the right to development. In
recognizing that there is an inseparable link between the
human rights and economic rights of the individual, my
Government has pledged to continue our programme to
build affordable houses, create jobs, fight poverty and
pursue new sources of local and foreign investment. My
Government will be an avid partner and facilitator of
business without compromising the quality of life for each
of our citizens.
There is an important part for national Governments
to play in the protection of their citizens’ human rights, but
there is a more substantial, comprehensive and far-reaching
role for the United Nations as ultimate protector of the
entire body of human rights.
This means that there should be a greater partnership
between the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations human
rights mechanisms and other agencies and organs. In this
way, new strategies can be devised for opening access to
markets for those countries that continue to find themselves
on the periphery of the international trading system. The
Organization should help to create and investigate practical
alternatives.
Hence, I maintain that we need a United Nations that
is informed by the inequities of the world economic
systems, and is able to respond to the social challenges that
are being exacerbated as a result.
We do our best to achieve the eradication of poverty.
Saint Kitts and Nevis seeks the support of the international
community, thus building a bridge to a better world.
Tomorrow’s world should open with our people finding
answers to the request to give them each day their daily
bread, and the kingdom of peace should be realized here
on Earth. There is an urgency to match our deeds with
our words so that we may, all of us, find the forgiveness
which is necessary as the basis for building peace in this
world.
Last year I spoke of the viability of social-venture
philanthropy through which Governments and businesses
may collaborate with each other. This concept already
exists at a similar level within many corporate structures.
Companies are already engaged in projects that enhance
and maintain a positive corporate image. We would take
this further if companies would recognize the importance
of preserving a good corporate culture by improving the
standard of living of the national constituencies in which
they do profitable business. A reformed United Nations,
with its existing organs, funds and programmes, can help
to implement such strategies.
We must move with informed haste, because I fear
that if we fail to translate the benefits of democracy,
technological growth and economic wealth into tangible
gains for our people, future chaos will not be far behind.
I am one of those who refuse to accept that the developed
world could be ignorant of the challenges facing the small
and poor economies. I am reluctant to think that national
interests could be so blinding that Governments neglect to
realize that the problems plaguing any one region, for
instance, have serious ramifications much further afield.
We have to recommit to the elimination of the
potent cancer of illicit drugs and global consequences. We
are all victims. Therefore, we must all become partners.
Let us commit to root out the menace of narco-trafficking
that is becoming embedded in our various societies.
I dare say that the multitude of problems before us
is complex and very involved. The old paradigms that
prevailed in the cold war have outlived their usefulness.
It is not only those elements that directly threaten our
political and strategic interests, but also those factors that
undermine a country’s ability to preserve its economic,
social and cultural fabric that should guide national
interests. There is no longer one giant enemy, but there
are a number of persistent factors that could conspire at
any one time to destroy the delicate balance of our
societies.
In spite of all the shortcomings of this body, if the
United Nations did not exist, it would be necessary to
invent it, because there is no other organization that has
contributed as much to the development of humankind.
27

Moreover, the Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis
is happy to be given this opportunity to express its views
on a number of issues of concern to my country.
Without the United Nations, a micro State such as
Saint Kitts and Nevis would never have been heard.
Therefore, as we cross over into the new millennium, Saint
Kitts and Nevis joins with the rest of the world as we
commit ourselves to the continued development of the
United Nations in order to ensure that all people
everywhere will enjoy the fulfilment of the promise of
peace, prosperity and progress.


On behalf of the people and the
Government of the Republic of Vanuatu, I wish to join
previous speakers in congratulating you, Mr. President, on
your election to this high and important post. Your
unanimous election as President of the fifty-fourth session
of General Assembly shows the esteem in which the
international community holds both you, personally, and
your country, Namibia. The Republic of Vanuatu’s
delegation is confident that you will guide the session to a
successful conclusion.
May I take this opportunity, through you, to express
my delegation’s sincere appreciation on your predecessor,
His Excellency Mr. Didier Opertti of Uruguay, for his
outstanding stewardship in facilitating the work of the fifty-
third session.
I wish to commend our Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi
Annan, for his wise leadership and dedication to the reform
and restructuring of our Organization. Through you,
Mr. President, we would like to assure him of our support.
Four years ago, we gathered here to celebrate the
fiftieth anniversary of our Organization — in particular, to
renew our commitment to the fundamental principles which
created it in 1945.
We have also made strong a commitment to further
strengthen our collaborative and genuine efforts in ensuring
that this Organization continues to promote global peace,
justice, healthy environment, human rights, law and order,
and support the process of sustainable development of its
Member nations — in particular, the least developed
countries (LDCs) such as those in the Pacific region,
including the Republic of Vanuatu.
The current international political and economic
situation has grown ever more complex and demanding on
our very limited and scarce resources as well as on the
support available from our development partners.
We are deeply concerned by the continuing escalation
of international crimes of all sorts — drug trafficking,
money laundering, human rights violations, terrorism,
organized crime and other similar activities which have the
potential of placing the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of small island States at great risk. The
international community must be seen to genuinely
collaborate in combating these criminal phenomena if the
new philosophy of globalization is to positively progress
and if we are to advance into the new millennium with
fresh and renewed hope to build a better future for our
children.
We do not believe that the world is doing us justice
and the fundamental principles of peace and economic
prosperity as enshrined in the Charter if we do not
observe our joint call for disarmament of nuclear weapons
and other weapons of mass destruction. International
security cannot be guaranteed if we fail to accord priority
attention and resources to education, protection of the
environment and good Heath of humankind and its
survival into the next millennium.
As a small island developing State where the ocean
provides one of the most important parts of our food
chain, we would like to join others in voicing our main
concern regarding the management of our oceans and
seas. Our participation at the Second London Oceans
Workshop last December demonstrated this. We would
therefore join other nations in calling for a collective
affirmation by all respective Member States at this session
of the General Assembly for a resolution to establish a
consultative process to improve coordination and
management of programmes that are associated with the
protection of the oceans and the seas which are very dear
to our very survival. This year my Government acceded
to and ratified three International Maritime Organization
Conventions which again reflects our concern for the
protection of our oceans and seas.
The momentum of the fiftieth anniversary of our
Organization, and the lessons we have learned from past
mistakes and our renewed commitment must guide us in
our pursuit for a better world where, through this
Organization, a renewed sense of mutual trust and
genuine dialogue can he resurrected to ease the political
tensions and economic crisis in all the regions and
sub-regions of the planet.
For our part of the world, these new developments
constitute a real threat to the already vulnerable
environment of our small island economies and our
population. Confronted with these challenges, many
13

countries in the Pacific Region, including Vanuatu, do not
have much choice at the end of the century but to embark
on difficult programmes of reform, both within their
respective Governments and societies.
Last year, The Honourable Donald Kalpokas Masike
Vanua, Prime Minister of Vanuatu, informed the Assembly
that Vanuatu had initiated a Comprehensive Reform
Programme with the support of both multilateral and
bilateral donor agencies and countries. As we are still in the
implementation stage of our reform, it is our genuine hope
that it will not only be beneficial to our people but also
responsive to their needs, in particular those of the 80 per
cent who live in the rural areas on subsistence farming.
Therefore Vanuatu would continue to need the special
support being accorded to it as a least developed country.
The role of Mr. Gurirab’s predecessor and of the
Secretary-General in subsequently facilitating a constructive
dialogue and comprehensive appreciation of the economic
hardships of Vanuatu must be commended, and it is our
hope that this will continue as we enter the new
millennium.
In this regard, the Government and the people of
Vanuatu warmly welcome the recent decision of the
Economic and Social Council, at its recent meeting in
Geneva this year, to defer consideration of Vanuatu’s
graduation from least developed country status, pending full
assessment of the usefulness of the vulnerability index and
ecological fragility as criteria for least developed country
designation.
In this connection, I am pleased to inform the
Assembly that with the assistance of the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), my
Government will be carrying out a review of our situation
in Vanuatu which we hope will assist the Committee for
Development Planning in its endeavour to come up with
criteria that will hopefully be accepted and adopted to
determine the status of most least developed countries. We
would like to register our most sincere appreciation and
recognition to each and every country and group of
countries for their continuous support.
One of the commitments we all made during the
fiftieth anniversary celebrations in 1995 was that our
Organization ought to be reformed and restructured in a
manner that reflects reality and the problems we are
currently experiencing, so that it could be effective in
addressing the issues and needs of its Member States, both
individually and as a group. On this note, we want to
associate ourselves with earlier statements in reference to
reform and restructuring, in particular on the issue of
geographical location. Here we are referring specifically
to our close neighbours, Australia and New Zealand,
which are considered as part of the Asia-Pacific region.
From our perspective — shared, we have no doubt,
by others — the United Nations must include in its
reform agenda a full assessment and recognition of the
inherent particularities of small island States like the
Republic of Vanuatu and the impact of the international
economic crisis, in particular that of globalization, on
their economic performance and on the sustainability of
their political stability.
The pursuit and promotion of a free and responsible
press, the protection of individual rights and gender
equality, as noted in Mr. Gurirab’s opening remarks, are
matters which are receiving more attention under the
reform programme. These are real challenges to Vanuatu
today, but they are challenges which we are confident we
will successfully address over time, with the necessary
support of the international community.
The right of self-determination must also continue to
occupy our agenda. As the United Nations International
Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism ends next year,
it is my Government’s hope that all administering Powers
of the countries concerned will take appropriate steps, in
cooperation with the territories, to work out some time-
frame for those countries to exercise their inalienable
right self-determination, self-government or independence.
The United Nations, as mandated by its Charter, must be
seen to encourage and support dialogue at the appropriate
political levels in the regions and countries where human
suffering and social disorder continue as a direct result of
conflicts of opinion on the issue of self-determination.
In the Pacific region, while we warmly welcomed
the signing last year of the Nouméa Accord between the
French Government and the major political parties in New
Caledonia, we urge all parties concerned to uphold their
commitment in relation to the rights and wishes of the
indigenous population of New Caledonia. We welcome
the decision by the French Government to allow
representatives from the South Pacific Forum and
representatives of the United Nations Special Political and
Decolonization Committee to visit the Territory in August
of this year, as outlined in resolution 53/65. We believe
this new agreement and the latest developments will help
to foster a stronger sense of commitment in all parties to
work together to support an irreversible trend for the
14

future political status of New Caledonia — that is, its
self-determination.
Still in our region, while the East Timorese people
have finally realized their right to self-determination, my
Government notes with grave concern the deteriorating
situation in East Timor following the results of the ballot at
the end of August in which many human rights violations
have been noted and many innocent people have lost their
lives. However, my Government is pleased to note the
initiatives taken by the Government of Indonesia to allow
the deployment of a Security Council peacekeeping force in
the troubled area and to assist in restoring normalcy and
allowing the democratic process to take its course.
As I said earlier on, the world and our Organization
will be going through very challenging times as we prepare
to turn the page of this century and start a new one. The
credibility of the United Nations in the next millennium
will be measured in terms of its effectiveness in responding
to the real situations prevailing in its Member States,
especially in small island States. The recent admission of
our Pacific Island neighbours, namely the Republic of
Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga,
to this body is a manifestation of this, and we hope that
their admission not only increases the membership of the
United Nations but also that they will bring with them new
ideas to contribute to this important Organization. As small
island States, we feel that our problems will be addressed
adequately and be heard in an international Organization
like the United Nations, and we join others in welcoming
them to our family of nations.
To conclude, let me say that it is therefore vital that
we all support and supplement the process of reform
spearheaded by our Secretary-General, which is aimed not
only at streamlining our Organization but also at
strengthening it. As we approach the dawn of the new
millennium, with its unforeseen challenges, cooperation will
no doubt be required between all Members in order that we
may discuss and debate our common issues in this very
venue.


The fifty-fourth session of
the General Assembly of the United Nations takes place
at a time marking humanity's crossing into the next
millennium. It emerges as a link in the long chain of
tumultuous events that have reshaped the map of the
family of nations.
12

The United Nations was born against the backdrop of
the destruction and desolation of the Second World War,
the most bitter, deadly and inhumane war known to
mankind. The descent of the Nazi regime to the depths of
evil was like an eclipse in the history of civilization and
will be recalled in history as a nightmare in which man
created the devil, who wreaked devastation, destruction,
terror and annihilation upon the world. The stand taken by
the Allied forces against the Nazi monster, and the creation
of the United Nations in April 1945, on the verge of the
defeat of the forces of destruction, was an act that marked
the return of humanity to its senses, to salvage the future of
mankind.
In this month when we mark 60 years since the
outbreak of the most horrible of wars, we are strengthened
more than ever in our sense of hope and confidence in the
necessity of the United Nations and of its activities
throughout the world. The various agencies of the United
Nations work to enhance world health and tend the sick; to
supply the needy with food and nourishment; to build
bridges between cultures; to promote education and
overcome ignorance; to instil hope into the lives of refugees
and displaced persons; and to assist the victims of disasters,
whether natural or man-made.
The soldiers of the United Nations forces are the true
peacekeepers of our age. In its corps are soldiers from all
the nations of the world. At times they risk their lives in
areas riddled with conflict and violence around the world,
whether their United Nations mandate is to make peace or
to be observers that safeguard the peace. These distinctions,
important as they may be to the policy makers and shapers
of international relations, have no meaning to the individual
United Nations soldier, posted far from his country, who
brings hope and tranquillity to places fraught with tragedy,
suffering and violence.
After many centuries of violence and war, of
enslavement and destructiveness in the name of murderous
ideologies, after decades of cold war and polarized world
alliances of the East and the West, the human race is now
making great strides down the paths of peace and
reconciliation. Before our very eyes, a process is
enveloping the world, signalling hope for the future.
Mankind is adopting a new path, the path of the prophet
Isaiah, who as far back as 2,600 years ago prophesied that
the day would come when
“they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and
their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war
any more.” (The Holy Bible, Isaiah 2:4)
This prophecy — which has been adopted by the
United Nations as a source of hope, as the symbol of the
victory of the good in human beings over evil — should
serve today more than ever as a beacon and a path for all
who cherish peace around the world and for their
representatives gathered here today.
The world has become more open. Satellites, the
Internet and telecommunications networks shorten
geographical and cultural distances. The political and
ideological blocs of the past have disintegrated, and the
walls of animosity have fallen along with the tyrants and
dictators who built them. They are being replaced by new
blocs, some of which are in the process of being created
where development and prosperity reign. I hope and
believe that these beneficial transformations will also
occur in the Middle East.
In our region, too, the light of hope has been
rekindled. We are now in the midst of a political process,
the objective of which is to reach peace between States
and reconciliation between peoples. Israel aspires to reach
a comprehensive peace with its neighbours, a peace of
harmony. Israel will not be satisfied with a merely
political or strategic peace. In our eyes, the absence of
war is not the peace we aspire to achieve.
May I be allowed to emphasize once again that
peace means a culture of peace; peace means no more
threats of violence, whether implied or categorical; peace
entails the end of boycotts, the end of contempt and
defamation, the end of incitement and confrontation...
peace is also a language of peace: it is the way leaders
address their nations, teachers teach their students and
religious leaders inspire their followers.
At a time when various kinds of religious extremism
are rearing their heads and eroding human wisdom and
human freedom, it is essential that inter-faith dialogue be
strengthened and that the religions be manifested in their
enlightened forms, which sanctify tolerance and
coexistence.
On the way to achieving peace in our region, we
often find ourselves confronted with contradictory
realities. Parallel to the political process, our negotiating
partners are conducting a constant political war against
Israel in various international forums, including from the
podium of this Assembly. This dualism is inconsistent
13

with the peace process and is intolerable, as are the extreme
decisions taken by the Arab League against Israel. These
decisions are not in keeping with the spirit of peace, as
expressed in the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum.
We hoped for and expected a different atmosphere,
one that would complement the impetus initiated by the
new Government in Israel. We have been saddened to
witness events that undermine the essence of peace. These
events can be defined only as anti-peace resolutions.
Engaging in a peace process, on the one hand, and
maintaining anti-Israel declarations and resolutions, on the
other, raises some serious concerns about our negotiating
partners and their concept of peace. Is it a peace of
normalization with open borders, or is it only one of
temporary initial recognition? Will our relations with the
Gulf and Maghreb countries, such as Morocco, Tunisia,
Mauritania, Qatar and Oman, be allowed to expand and
develop? Or will these relations remain hostage to mood
swings after each and every difficulty in the negotiations or
whenever there is disagreement? Continued doubts about
these cardinal questions cannot be tolerated in the light of
the heavy price and grave risks that Israel is taking upon
itself in this process.
Three weeks ago, on 4 September, Israel and the
Palestinian Authority signed the Sharm el-Sheikh
Memorandum, which for the first time creates a direct,
chronological, political and conceptual link between the
Interim Agreements and the final status agreement. On 13
September, the final status talks were renewed between
Israelis and Palestinians.
We are determined to reach a framework agreement
that will form the basis of the final status agreement by
February 2000, as stated and agreed upon in the Sharm
el-Sheikh Memorandum. In this framework we will select
the issues and set an agenda for the final status agreement.
The topics at hand are known, as are the differing vantage
points and positions of each side. The differences can be
resolved only by direct negotiations.
Regarding the final status, I wish to affirm from this
podium that when we refer to political separation as one of
the prime concepts of the permanent settlement, we are also
saying that, for the benefit of both sides, we should not
necessarily sever ties that are vital to coexistence in the
various spheres of living.
From Israel’s perspective, there is no competition and
never has been any between the different negotiating tracks.
Israel also aspires to reach peace with Syria, our
neighbour to the north. This is, after all, in the higher
common interests of both Israel and Syria. H o w e v e r ,
along with these common interests, the following point
must be made clear: A democratic country like Israel
cannot accept a precondition to beginning the talks that
requires a prior acceptance of the final outcome as
dictated by the extreme and dogged formulas of the
opposing side.
We must maintain the momentum of good will so
that we can face our children, Syrian and Israeli alike,
with a clear conscience and say to them in all honesty:
We tried everything and did our utmost. I call upon the
leaders of Syria, in view of what we have gone through
together, to cease hesitating. It is time to talk. Meetings
and discussion are not political sacrifices — they are
basic necessities.
On the road to a comprehensive peace, we wish to
see Lebanon join the camp of peacemakers. The anomaly
which has developed in its territory must come to an end.
We have never had nor do we have now any territorial
claims or disputes with Lebanon. Our one and only
interest is to guarantee the safety and security of our
citizens. I must say that, regrettably, the Government of
Lebanon has for many years failed to enforce its
sovereignty in the southern part of Lebanon and to disarm
Hezbollah. I hope that this situation will improve and that
Israel, within the framework of an agreement, will be able
to leave the southern part of Lebanon.
Nevertheless, with that as our ambition, I wish to
emphasize that we will not be held hostage much longer
on this track to a stubborn and defiant attitude. We will
make our own independent decisions, as we see fit, in
order to ensure our protection and our vital interests,
taking all options under consideration.
A reconciliation between Israel and its neighbours
must extend the promise that all the peoples of the region
may reap the benefits of peace. Normalization must not
be viewed as a one-sided gesture. As a natural outcome
of peaceful coexistence, normalization is not in the
service of one particular party. It is in the interests of all
the nations of the region.
We hope to renew the multilateral tracks as early as
this year. There is a need for close cooperation in
regional multilateral projects. Our region has tremendous
potential. In order to fully realize this potential, we must
establish a mechanism of true cooperation among the
14

States of the region. This cooperation would clearly be to
the benefit of all of us in the region.
The scarcity of water in our region, which will only
get worse, may impose a new way of life on the inhabitants
of the Middle East in the coming years. Israel is
anticipating this problem and preparing for it, but in this
case, as in others, cooperation in the region is essential and
will benefit all sides.
The working groups of the multilateral tracks
undertook various assignments of primary importance.
Unfortunately, their activities have been frozen for
irrelevant reasons. This is the time to resurrect them. Any
delay or imposed condition is liable to undermine the peace
process and delay the aid packages so essential to the
peoples of the region. Throughout this important process,
on the bilateral and the multilateral tracks alike, we are
accompanied by the international community. First and
foremost was the United States of America, along with the
Russian Federation, the European Union, Canada, Norway,
Japan, China and other countries and organizations that
have assisted and continue to do so. Their key contributions
earn them special commendation from this rostrum.
Egypt and Jordan were our first partners in breaking
down the walls of enmity and in thawing relations in our
region. Improving our relations with Egypt, as well as
renewing the multilateral tracks, are essential to furthering
the common objectives of the nations in our region. T h e
relations between Israel and Jordan are an example of
appropriate and favourable relations between neighbouring
countries. We intend to strengthen and broaden the relations
between the two nations in the economic, social and
political realms.
As we march further along the difficult path of
making peace, we look back with sorrow and sadness as we
remember the pioneers who broke new ground and are no
longer with us today: the late Menachem Begin, Anwar
Saddat, Yitzhak Rabin, King Hussein and King Hassan II
of Morocco. Their vision and their work inspire us to
continue to work towards completing their enterprise of
peacemaking.
We cannot afford to be disillusioned. Our region is
neither North America nor Benelux. Even as we negotiate
the peace process, we remain aware of the threats and
dangers directed against us, threatening the stability of the
entire region. The mix of extreme fundamentalism, on the
one hand, and of the potential use of weapons of mass
destruction, on the other, threatens the peace, stability and
future of the entire region. This threat is not just an
element of academic debates in the study of international
relations, but a harsh reality which we must all face.
From this international platform, I call for a halt to
all technological, scientific and other kinds of assistance
to countries looking to obtain unconventional weapons,
while threatening the existence of the State of Israel and
the region as a whole.
The Persian Gulf War demonstrated that leadership
lacking reason and stability poses a threat to all the
countries in the region and to the world at large. The
monitoring groups and machinery in Iraq must be
immediately resumed. That is the obligation of the
international community so long as the Iraqi regime seeks
non-conventional weapons and threatens the region. The
United Nations is the largest, most authoritative and most
recognized international body. It should therefore be the
one to take the initiative and the responsibility in curbing
this danger.
Terrorism is an additional strategic enemy and we
cannot come to terms with its existence. It is a threat not
only to Israel, but to many other nations across the world
as well. Terror knows no borders or civilized rules. There
can be no coexistence with terror, either in the context of
the negotiations conducted by Israel with its neighbours,
or in the broader regional context. Anyone who believes
that terror is a nuisance which can be tolerated is
mistaken. Terror is in essence a strategic threat. A
synthesized, coordinated and unrelenting approach must
be adopted against it.
Here, in this building of stone and glass, reflecting
the current image of our world today with its points of
light and shadows of darkness, counterparts and enemies
meet as friends and allies in the creation of a forum for
discussion and coexistence. Discussion is the way to
resolve conflict. It is also the way of tomorrow. Dialogue
and common language are the tools of diplomacy, the raw
material for the creation of a new reality and the
foundation for a stable and safer society.
It was here in the General Assembly, at the
beginning of the decade, that I first met with my Chinese
counterpart. After 40 years of total dissociation between
our two countries, we endeavoured to re-establish
diplomatic relations between Israel and China. It was also
here that we laid the groundwork for establishing ties
with the former Soviet Union, as well as with India,
Nigeria and other States. These are only a few examples
15

demonstrating the possibility in this arena for building a
bridge between nations and States.
As a nation that experienced great difficulties,
overcome only by accelerated development efforts, the State
of Israel takes part in the international effort to aid others
and share knowledge, experience and technology,
experience which it has accumulated in various fields. The
nation of Israel is proud of its ancient tradition of sharing
and identifying with the world at large.
Through the Division for International Cooperation
within the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Israel maintains ongoing
projects and a broad range of training courses in Israel. We
have demonstration units and we are conducting research.
For example, a special medical centre was recently
established in Mauritania and serves the many citizens of
that State who suffer from chronic eye problems. Similarly,
Israel invests great efforts and resources in training
professionals to acquire the skills and abilities necessary for
meeting the various challenges that engage many parts of
the world.
In the more than 40 years since its inception, the
Division for International Cooperation has trained more
than 70,000 trainees from more than 120 countries, who
have come to Israel and attended its training courses in the
areas of agriculture, water resources, health and medicine,
science, education and others.
In 1998 alone, some 155 courses were held in Israel
on a variety of topics, with the participation of more than
4,000 trainees. Gladly, I can report that many of the
trainees were from Middle Eastern countries. Fully 820
Palestinians participated in these courses over the past year,
thereby helping to strengthen the bridges of peace which
have been built between Israelis and Palestinians. In the
same year, Israel ran more than 150 courses in over 60
different countries, with the participation of over 7,000
trainees. I am proud to point out that in many of the
countries to which we sent Israeli experts, the local
personnel managed to translate our goodwill into positive
results on the ground, to the benefit of their people and
their land.
Because of the reputation it has acquired, the Division
for International Cooperation is also one of the central
addresses in Israel to which people can turn in times of
disaster around the world. We have recently witnessed just
how essential such assistance can be in times of natural
disasters. Israel has always responded favourably to
requests for aid and relief, regardless of the political
context or the state of diplomatic relations.
We wish to support and commend the United States
of America, our friend and ally, an inspiration to us all in
its efforts to promote the values of cooperation among
nations. This is also the time to express our appreciation
to the United States for its intensive efforts to bring true
peace to the Middle East.
Even today in the United States we have witnessed
again a new resort to the threat of boycott. The case at
hand is the threat to declare a boycott against the
American company Disney, because the company dared
to allow Jerusalem to be portrayed in an exhibition
celebrating the millennium. We condemn these threats and
the use by certain Arab States of this anachronistic
device. It has no place here or anywhere else in the
world.
Over thousands of years, since the time of biblical
King David, the builder of Jerusalem, until the present
day, Jerusalem has not served as the capital of any other
nation in the world besides the nation of Israel, the
Jewish people. Even after our forced exile from the land
of Israel, we continued, generation after generation, to
stay faithful to Jerusalem. The flame of Jerusalem was
carried in our hearts as a hidden source of faith and hope.
In our wanderings, in the East and in the West, in
the African deserts and on the outskirts of Siberia, from
the golden age of Spain through the dark Inquisition,
during the prosperous Europe of the romantic era to the
charred ashes of the Holocaust, throughout all the above
the eyes of the Jews and their prayers have been directed
toward Jerusalem. Year after year, from father to son, the
anthem of the Jewish nation has constantly been “Next
Year in Jerusalem”.
With the passing of those previous generations and
exiles, we have had the privilege of being deemed worthy
to return to Jerusalem, to rebuild the ruins, to rededicate
the city as a centre radiating with beauty, open to all
followers of all religions, as the poet has said, where
freedom of all religions is a fact of life.
It is so upsetting then that even today, 51 years since
the independence of the State of Israel, there are still
those who would deny our natural right to decide the
location of our capital, a natural right given to every
nation in the world. From Jerusalem, the city of David, I
will quote from the original song of David on Jerusalem,
16

in words which transcends the limits of time and retains
their meaning in every generation:
“Our feet shall stand within thy gates, oh Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is built as a city that is bound firmly
together.” (The Holy Bible, Psalm 122:2-3)
Today, as before, from this podium we declare to the
entire world, to our friends and people and those who are
distant from us: Jerusalem, unified under Israeli
sovereignty, is and will remain forever the capital of Israel.


Allow me at the outset to
join with others who have spoken before me in
congratulating you, Sir, on your election as President of the
General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session. I am certain
that your experience and skills, as well as your dedication
to freedom and justice, make you qualified to lead the
United Nations as it searches for peace in Africa and
elsewhere in the coming year.
I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to your
predecessor, Mr. Didier Opertti, for the effective manner in
which he guided the work of the previous session. I extend
my gratitude to the Secretary-General for his dedicated and
exemplary contributions to the cause of peace.
Permit me also to welcome the Republic of Kiribati,
the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga as new
Members of our Organization.
It is a matter of deep concern that this year is
witnessing the continuation of conflicts and the emergence
of new sources of conflict. In particular, it is disturbing to
note the growing tendency to resort to the use or threat of
force. This has become a grave danger to the independence
and unity of States as well as to regional and international
peace and security. This year has recorded some of the
bloodiest inter-State and intra-State conflicts, in Africa,
Asia and Europe.
Sub-Saharan African has been the part of the world
that has suffered most from those conflicts. Sub-Saharan
Africa’s economic performance and political stability have,
in fact, taken a turn for the worse in 1999. About one
third of the 52 members of the Organization of African
Unity (OAU), all of them in sub-Saharan Africa, have
been worse off economically in 1999 than they were in
the previous year. Almost 20 countries have been afflicted
by armed civil conflict or inter-State war. It is not
surprising that almost all of the countries that have
suffered economic relapse are the ones that are embroiled
in conflict.
Among those 20, the worst are to be found in the
Horn of Africa. More than two thirds of their people are
living in abject misery. Most have little or no food. They
are ridden with disease. The economies of most of those
countries are in shambles. The region is politically
unstable and racked by conflict. It is no surprise,
therefore, that some donor States and international
financial institutions have rightly denounced the state of
affairs and have informed a few of those States that they
would be better advised to feed their hungry millions and
better manage their economies than squander countless
millions to finance ill-advised military adventures.
In his report on Africa, Secretary-General Kofi
Annan made it amply clear that economic stagnation and
poverty are a direct function of conflict. However, this is
as evident elsewhere as it is in Africa. Thus, the situations
in East Timor, Afghanistan, Kosovo or Bosnia and
Herzegovina are no different from those in the Horn of
Africa, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo or Angola. In all those cases, conflicts have caused
serious setbacks in development plans and negatively
impacted on the living conditions of the people. In almost
all cases, conflict has been the intrinsic cause of famine
and serious violations of human rights and other
humanitarian crises. The international community cannot
afford complacency in the face of such threats to
international peace and security, if it is to be believed that
peace is indivisible and that what happens in one region
will have an impact on others.
Various reasons, including ethnic and religious
hatred, economic and political grievances and
unemployment, have been advanced as the root causes of
conflict. While these are valid factors, it must never be
forgotten that territorial expansionism, both within and
outside the State, and the determination to achieve it by
the use or threat of military force and by political and
economic coercion against the territorial integrity and
independence of neighbouring countries, has been the
major cause of conflict and the disturbance of peace in
29

the Horn of Africa. Eritrea, the victim of Ethiopia’s
territorial ambitions and its policy of aggression, is one
example of this.
It has now been 16 months since the eruption of the
conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the root cause of
which is Ethiopia’s avowedly ethnic-based policy of
territorial aggrandizement and its systematic annexation of
large areas of Eritrean territory. From the beginning of the
conflict, Eritrea has consistently pursued a policy of
peaceful resolution of the border problem even in the face
of provocation, creeping annexation of its territory and
outright aggression. To that end, it had attempted, before
the eruption of the conflict, to engage the Ethiopian
Government in peaceful dialogue to amicably resolve all
existing problems and controversies related to their
common border. Even after the start of the conflict, Eritrea
on several occasions requested the Ethiopian side to agree
to accept bilateral negotiations. When this was rejected by
Ethiopia, Eritrea unilaterally issued a proposal which
contained detailed modalities for the peaceful resolution of
the conflict. That too was rejected by the Ethiopian regime.
After the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was
seized of the matter, Eritrea accepted, despite its grave
reservations, the Framework Agreement submitted to both
parties following the Ouagadougou summit of June 1998,
after it had received the clarifications it had sought on
several critical issues. Eritrea also readily and unequivocally
accepted, at the Algiers OAU summit in July 1999, the
modalities for the implementation of the Framework
Agreement. The modalities were in fact drawn up to satisfy
the unjust, unfair and unwarranted new preconditions made
by Ethiopia on the basis of its own unilateral interpretation
of the Framework Agreement. Eritrea declared that it was
accepting the modalities only in the interests of peace and
of the good of both the Ethiopian and the Eritrean peoples.
Finally, Eritrea also accepted without any delay the
technical arrangements for the implementation of the
Framework Agreement and modalities which were
submitted to both parties on 23 August 1999.
Implementation of the provisions of the Framework
Agreement would entail, inter alia, the following: it would
require a cessation of hostilities, the redeployment of the
troops of both sides from disputed territories and the
deployment of peacekeeping forces in those areas. Eritrea
is fully committed to this. It would require investigation of
the sequence of events to determine the origins of the
conflict. Eritrea welcomes this since it would conclusively
identify the real aggressor. The Framework Agreement
envisages the investigation of human rights abuses. Eritrea
awaits the results eagerly. Implementation would
determine the exact borders between the two countries.
Eritrea is enthusiastic about this. Eritrea is certain that the
international community too is just as eager and
enthusiastic about finding the final truth on all these and
other related matters.
On the other hand, the Ethiopian Government was
determined to achieve its territorial ambitions by all
means, fair or foul. To this end, in 1997 and 1998,
members of the armed forces and militia of the Ethiopian
Government systematically used brute force to expel
Eritreans from Eritrean lands and to incorporate southern
and south-eastern Eritrean territories into Ethiopia. That
Government then rejected all Eritrean overtures on direct
peace talks and continued feverishly to prepare for new
aggression even as it paid lip service to the Framework
Agreement. On 6 February 1999, it launched an invasion
along several sectors of our common boundary, even
while peace facilitators from the United Nations and the
United States were engaged in shuttle diplomacy to bring
the conflict to an end. Sadly, tens of thousands of
Ethiopians and many Eritreans perished or were wounded
during that aggression.
When Eritrea accepted the Framework Agreement,
Ethiopia came out with new preconditions based solely on
its own interpretation of the Agreement, rather than
joining Eritrea in the implementation of the peace plan.
Yet Ethiopia was to accept the modalities — which were
actually formulated to satisfy its unfair, unjust and
unwarranted demands — only after much prevarication
and procrastination. Finally, Ethiopia issued a statement
on 4 September 1999 which was tantamount to a rejection
of the technical arrangements, which are only a procedure
for implementing the Framework Agreement and the
modalities, on the untenable grounds that it contained
elements which were not part of the previous two
documents. One week later, on the eve of the Ethiopian
new year, in a reiteration of Ethiopia’s previous
declaration of war, its President publicly announced that
Ethiopia would use force to impose its will over disputed
territory. That was a blatant repudiation of the OAU
effort, all of whose documents had been endorsed by the
United Nations and other concerned organizations and
Governments.
The OAU has given Ethiopia clear and unambiguous
clarifications in response to its queries and concerns. It is
also to be recalled that the OAU had decided, and both
parties had accepted, that any interpretation of the
documents would be made solely by the OAU and its
30

current Chairman. The OAU and the United Nations have
also agreed to become guarantors of the scrupulous
implementation of all the provisions of the OAU peace
package. Ethiopia’s latest threat of war and its consequent
repudiation of its commitment to the OAU peace process,
which is inflexible about the peaceful resolution of the
conflict, are thus in contempt of the OAU, the United
Nations and the international community. Ethiopia’s refusal
to accept the technical arrangements until its new set of
preconditions are met is holding the peace process hostage
in spite of the clamour of the international community for
the acceptance and quick implementation of the peace plan.
However quixotic and unjustifiable it may be, the
Ethiopian Government has declared that it will not accept
the technical arrangements until it receives from the OAU
a firm assurance of Ethiopian sovereignty over the disputed
areas. Obviously, this is a direct contradiction of, and a
frontal assault on, the Framework Agreement, whose
provisions clearly declare that the
“redeployment will not prejudge the final status of the
area concerned, which will be determined at the end
of the delimitation and demarcation of the border and,
if need be, through an appropriate mechanism of
arbitration”. (S/1998/1223, annex, p. 25)
Surely, the proposition that a State must a priori be
awarded full sovereignty over contested territory before the
determination of ownership must distort the norms of
international law and international relations. Ethiopia has
also claimed that its decision to use force to control
contested areas was taken in self-defence. Such a notion
relegates the concept of self-defence to the realm of self-
help.
It is not difficult to conclude which party to the
Eritrean-Ethiopian conflict has undertaken to fulfil in good
faith its obligations under the OAU peace package and
which party is determined to undermine, by direct or
indirect aggression, the Charters of the United Nations and
the OAU, thereby endangering peace, security, stability and
peaceful development in our region. It is not difficult to
determine which of the parties is resolved to bring about
territorial changes, in clear violation of the OAU and
United Nations Charters, by aggression, coercion,
infiltration and subterfuge. A perfunctory analysis of the
media — particularly the broadcast media — of both
countries will also reveal which of the parties is fanning the
flames of ethnic hatred and is actively engaged in
propaganda and in preparation for a new war, thereby
committing a crime against peace. In short, it is very easy
to identify which of the parties is committed to peace and
which is committed to war and aggression.
Once again, war clouds are looming ominously over
our region. It is now self-evident that the Ethiopian
Government is still determined to pursue a policy
predicated on violent aggression. By its shrill war
hysteria, the Government of Ethiopia is making it clear
that it is poised to invade our country yet again. It is not
our wish to fight. The bitter experience of a long war of
independence has taught us to dread war. We seek no
territorial expansion, and we have no plan to commit
aggression against any other State. We seek to live in
peaceful cooperation with all our neighbours. Yet if war
is imposed on us we must — and will — fight to
safeguard the sovereignty of our country and to preserve
our dignity as a people. In this connection, Eritrea
solemnly declares in this Assembly that the responsibility
for any new military engagement will lie with the Addis
Ababa regime.
We have exercised prudence and patience in the face
of aggression, provocation and crimes committed by the
Government of Ethiopia against our nationals in Ethiopia
and Eritrea. A State has the duty to protect its nationals
from injury caused by the Government of any State. Yet
Eritrea has hitherto preferred to react with equanimity to
the gross and violent violations of the human rights of
Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin in the hope of
securing a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
However, there are limits to the misdoings that any
respectable State must tolerate. It would be unacceptable
for any Government worthy of the trust of its people not
to defend the State and the people it represents against
aggression. It would be an unthinkable calamity for a
people which had fought for so long, endured
unimaginable hardship and won its independence against
all odds to lose its rights as a people and a nation to an
aggressor.
It is incumbent on those who love freedom and
justice and respect the equality of peoples, who are
committed to peace and cherish the norms and principles
of the United Nations, to ensure that law and moral
principles prevail against international lawlessness and
immorality.
Ethiopia’s threatened aggression must be a source of
deep concern to the international community and
particularly to the OAU and the United Nations which
have consistently urged both parties to restrain themselves
31

from the use or threat of force and to solve the conflict by
peaceful means.
To this end, the international community must insist
that both parties recognize and respect each other’s right to
live in peace within secure and recognized borders. It is for
this reason that Eritrea believes that this Assembly has the
duty to uphold the decision of the OAU, which has already
been endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, and
calls upon the Assembly to denounce Ethiopia’s renewed
preparation for war against Eritrea and to demand that it
accept and implement the OAU peace package. Surely, if
there is any lesson that must have been learned in the last
16 months, it is that nothing can be gained, and everything
may be lost, by continued warfare.
Therefore, the Government of Eritrea calls upon the
United Nations and the international community to: first,
condemn Ethiopia’s commitment to the use and threat of
force; secondly, establish a short time-frame within which
Ethiopia must definitively respond to the peace package;
thirdly, take timely and appropriate measures for the
immediate and unconditional implementation of the OAU
peace plan in its entirety; and, fourthly, immediately deploy
an observer mission to identify the aggression in the event
of renewed conflict.