I am most pleased to
convey to Ambassador Insanally my congratulations and
those of my delegation on his election as President of
General Assembly at this session. At the same time, I wish
to express our sincere appreciation to Mr. Stoyan Ganev of
Bulgaria for guiding with skill and dedication the work of
the Assembly at its previous session.
Let me pay a tribute to our Secretary-General,
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for the vision and the energy he
has devoted to the leadership of our Organization at a
difficult but exhilarating moment in history.
Allow me to express at this point the deep sympathies
of my delegation for the people of India in connection with
the tragedy visited upon them by the earthquake that
devastated parts of the state of Maharashtra.
The President is presiding over the work of the
Assembly in a world that continues its amazing political
transformation. Since we met in this same Hall last year, a
period that is but the twinkling of an eye in the long history
of mankind, the world’s political landscape has been further
and radically transformed. That transformation is, above all,
reflected in and exemplified by two of the major
preoccupations that have exercised the Assembly and the
international community for decades - namely, the situation
in South Africa and the problem of Palestine.
The abhorrent system of apartheid, long the evil
foundation of the South African State, has finally crumbled
because of the unremitting efforts of the people of South
Africa and of the international community, not least of the
United Nations. In its place, multiracial negotiations - in
themselves an amazing phenomenon in that country - have
led to a specific programme with a precise timetable for the
conversion of South Africa, in the words recently uttered in
this Hall by that authentic leader of the South African
people, Nelson Mandela, "into a united, democratic,
non-racial and non-sexist country".
The whole situation in the Middle East, too, has been
transformed, a transformation symbolized by a single
handshake in Washington. That historic gesture resulted
from complex combinations of circumstances and
developments and presages further arduous negotiations and
determined efforts by the Israeli and Palestinian peoples and
their neighbours. But there is now, more than ever before,
reason to trust that in that long-afflicted part of the world the
politics of intolerance, hatred and despair is being replaced
by the politics of accommodation, enlightenment,
pragmatism and hope.
Thus, the international community’s political agenda,
and the substance and content, if not the item-titles, of the
Assembly’s agenda, have radically changed.
The global economy is being transformed no less
radically. Everywhere, obsolete obstacles to trade are
coming down, if not yet globally, then within the various
Forty-eighth session - 7 October l993 13
regions of the world. To be sure, economic barriers
continue to be propped up by atavistic hands that seek to
reverse the tide and hold back the march of global economic
progress. The most obvious victim of these rearguard
actions is the Uruguay Round, which, after years of
frustrating negotiations and painstaking bargaining, has yet
to come to a conclusion. The ultimate victims are the global
economy and the livelihoods and standards of living of the
world’s peoples. Here, the accusing finger of history points
at certain developed countries, with their short-sighted
subsidies and protectionist devices. Nevertheless, the trend
towards trade and economic liberalization gathers
momentum. More and more nations recognize that that
trend can be reversed only at the peril of the well-being of
the world’s peoples.
Our region of South-East Asia has been a vital part of
the global political and economic transformation.
The conflict in Cambodia and the agony of the
Cambodian people long preoccupied this Assembly as well
as the Security Council. Going beyond the expectations of
so many, the Cambodian people have made their historic
decision for peace and reconciliation. We now call upon the
international community to extend its support to the
Cambodian people and their new Government so that they
will find surcease not only from war, but also from poverty
and want, and so that they will find not only peace, but a
life of dignity and freedom.
The Declaration by the Association of South-East Asian
Nations (ASEAN) on the South China Sea, which was issued
in Manila last year, has received the strong endorsement of
the United Nations and of individual Governments, and we
in South-East Asia have continued our measured effort to
build a regime of peace, cooperation and mutual confidence
in that disputed area.
Earlier this year we in ASEAN, joined by the other
nations of East Asia, including Viet Nam and Laos, and by
others with interests in the region, agreed upon an ASEAN
Regional Forum in which questions of regional security can
be periodically examined and discussed together.
In East Asia, the rapid advance of economic
liberalization has propelled the economies of the region to
achieve some of the highest growth rates in the world. The
commitment to the free market has found its most forceful
expression in the decision of ASEAN’s leaders to establish
an ASEAN Free Trade Area through the steady reduction
and eventual elimination of trade barriers within ASEAN.
Happily, the dawning of a new era of peace and the
promise of prosperity in our region have found a bright
reflection in my country. President Ramos’ policy of
national unity and reconciliation has replaced the politics of
division. Dissident elements have been drawn back into the
fold of society. Peace talks with the remaining disaffected
groups are being held. Amnesty has been offered to all.
The economics of selfishness and greed is being
replaced with reforms to secure economic fairness and social
justice. The Philippine economy is ruled no longer by the
tyranny of excessive regulation or of corporate monopoly but
by the invigorating regime of market forces and free
competition.Global competitiveness, in place of political
contention, is now the watchword throughout the land.
All this is being carried out with the most meticulous
respect for human rights in accordance with the national
consensus and the deepest convictions of our people. It is
being achieved within the framework of our democratic
institutions. For we are convinced that there is no substitute
for respect for human rights and democracy in the
achievement of long-term stability and progress, as well as
in the assurance of human dignity and the fulfilment of
human aspirations.
The new situation in the world gives us new hope and
a brighter promise. But grave dangers and tragic situations
remain. Old scourges continue to torment the human family;
new agonies confront it.
Religious intolerance and the rise of nationalist
ambitions have supplanted ideological fanaticism as the fuel
for the fires of conflict that now burn in too many places in
the world. The collapse of empires has let loose the savage
impulse to settle historical scores, redress ancient ethnic
grievances, and set right real or imagined injustices over
national borders, the treatment of minorities, or the control
of resources.
The tragedy of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the
worst and most dangerous of these barbarities.
Despite - in certain cases, because of - the onset of a
climate of peace, trafficking in the weapons of war
sometimes continues unabated, dissipating resources,
endangering people, imperilling the peace. The Philippines
steadfastly supports measures to promote greater
transparency in arms transfers and military expenditures,
including the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms.
14 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
The Philippines urges the nuclear-weapon States, in the
strongest terms, to restore the recently broken moratorium on
all nuclear testing, and hopes that the international
community will decide, through a comprehensive test-ban
treaty, to cease for ever the testing of nuclear devices, which
so gravely threaten the very existence of the human family.
The Philippines favours the extension of the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and calls upon all to
abide strictly by its provisions, including the safeguards
agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
At the same time, we urge the nuclear-weapon States to
fulfil their own obligations under the Treaty and further
reduce their stocks of such weapons until they are no more.
Amid the rising tide of economic liberalization, the
siren song of protectionism continues to entice nations with
its fraudulent promise. Legitimate concerns over health,
food safety, the environment, workers’ welfare, and even
human rights, including the rights of indigenous peoples -
and now "social dumping" - are being invoked to clothe in
various guises policies of naked protectionism.
Decisions on global finance continue to be made by a
few, with the rest of the world standing by even though it is
vitally affected. The burden of foreign debt continues to be
a millstone round the necks of many developing countries,
and the problem is often aggravated by decisions on interest
rates and exchange rates in which those countries have no
voice.
The Philippines continues faithfully to fulfil its external
financial obligations, regardless of the extent to which that
policy holds back our economic growth, constitutes a burden
on our people, and imposes a heavy domestic political cost
on our leaders. But we wonder whether the world has tried
hard enough to devise creative solutions to this economic
plague upon the developing countries. After all, some
nations have been favoured with decisive - even radical -
measures to alleviate their foreign debt, such measures
having become politically useful to the creditor countries.
The ravages that the profligacy of man has wrought
upon the Earth’s delicate environment continue to endanger
our fragile planet and many nations. The Philippines has
kept faith with the commitments made by us all at the
United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development because of its conviction that development
cannot be sustained if the world’s - and the
country’s - natural riches and the balance between them are
destroyed.
No less destructive is the accelerating increase in the
illicit trafficking in drugs, which destroys the lives of our
people in the vigour of their youth. It gives rise to
lawlessness and crime. It knows no national boundaries.
We therefore appeal for the full and effective
implementation of the United Nations International Drug
Control Programme and the Global Programme of Action.
In situations of conflict, women, as well as children,
become the most tragic victims by virtue of their inherent
vulnerability. The systematic rape and murder of women
and girls in Bosnia and Herzegovina is only the most
outrageous instance of this abhorrent reality.
Similarly, in situations of extreme poverty, women -
particularly migrant workers - are the most vulnerable to
abuse. Detached from the family, away from their
homeland, often living in their employer’s home, unprotected
by the country where they work, women migrant workers are
especially susceptible to maltreatment. The abuses to which
they are exposed, and often subjected, are a veritable litany
of woe - denial of their rightful wages, excessive deductions
by their employment agencies, intolerably long working
hours, insufficient food, lack of medical care, the absence of
any avenue for the redress of their grievances, physical
attack, rape and other forms of sexual abuse.
We call upon the Assembly to keep among the areas of
its concern the condition of women, who make up half of
the world - in particular, the migrant workers among them.
And we call upon the Governments concerned to enact laws
and other measures for the protection of these migrant
workers. We ask these Governments to cease the callous
treatment of migrant workers as commodities that are subject
only to the law of supply and demand.
These scourges of mankind - mass poverty, external
debt, environmental damage, illicit drugs, abuses against
women, the mistreatment of migrant workers - would be
more effectively addressed if Governments, societies and the
international community were to place people at the centre
of development and international cooperation. This is what
the World Summit for Social Development is intended to do.
We urge the world’s leaders and their Governments to
ensure maximum participation in this milestone event in
Copenhagen in 1995.
The world has changed radically, largely for the better.
But old problems remain, and new challenges confront us.
To respond to these problems under the new circumstances,
and to deal with these new challenges, our Organization, the
United Nations, must renew itself.
Forty-eighth session - 7 October l993 15
In few aspects of the work of the United Nations is this
need for renewal more evident than in the Security Council.
The structure of the Security Council was formulated at the
very birth of the United Nations, at the end of the Second
World War and the beginning of the cold war. Forty-eight
years have passed. Massive changes have occurred in the
world, particularly in recent years. Empires have crumbled.
The ideological division of the world has melted away. The
cold war has ended. The membership of the United Nations
has multiplied from 51 at the time of its founding to 184
today.
And yet, apart from the enlargement of its membership
30 years ago from 9 nine to 15, the Security Council has not
changed. It has remained small, unrepresentative,
undemocratic, opaque. We recognize the reality of
continuing imbalances in world power and the necessity for
the Security Council to reflect this reality. But, surely, we
must also recognize the reality of the worldwide trend
towards, and the people’s desire for, democratization and
transparency in political affairs. Surely, the Security
Council, the United Nations body with the greatest impact
on international peace and security, must also reflect this
reality in its size, in its structure, in its procedures, in its
relations with other United Nations bodies, including the
General Assembly.
We are, therefore, in favour of a searching reassessment
of the structure, role and procedures of the Security Council
with a view to its reform. And we urge that, in view of the
repercussions that such a reform would have on other United
Nations bodies and activities, this reassessment be carried
out within the context of a thorough review of the Charter.
The sober, rational and
realistic proposals propounded yesterday by the Foreign
Minister of Singapore might serve as a useful starting-point
for our consideration of this important matter.
The entire United Nations is, in fact, in need of reform.
In the new international situation, the enlarged demands
upon the United Nations and the constraints on the available
means require that the resources of the United Nations be
carefully husbanded for their most efficient use. The
concept and substance of management - and by that I mean
the science of management - must be imposed upon the
United Nations bureaucracy. Funds and other assets must be
most meticulously safeguarded and effectively utilized.
Duplication must be avoided, costs drastically cut, waste
radically reduced, and corruption abolished.
I am sure that many developing countries share our
desire that the United Nations should impose upon itself the
austerity and discipline that are required of many of us by
the international financial institutions.
We pay a tribute to the Secretary-General’s attention to
this aspect of his work. We welcome in particular the
creation of the new post of Assistant Secretary-General for
Inspections and Investigations as an indication of his
determination to address this problem.
The Philippines is up to date in its contribution to the
finances of the United Nations. It may be a small amount
in the totality of the Organization’s resources, but it is
substantial in proportion to our financial capacity. We
would not want to see it squandered. We cannot afford it.
Neither can the United Nations.
May I propose, then, that a group of men and women
with both extensive experience and skill in corporate
management and extensive exposure to the special
requirements and problems of the United Nations be
commissioned to study this question in greater depth and
detail and with greater objectivity, and to make the
appropriate recommendations. There are many in this Hall
right now who would be eminently qualified to perform this
task. The Philippines will explore the possibility of a draft
resolution to this effect at a suitable time.
This is a matter of great and urgent necessity. For
reforms in the United Nations will place the Organization in
a better position to deal with the demands upon it in the
second half-century of its existence and to fulfil in the next
millennium the vision that its founding fathers had for this
great and indispensable Organization.


Mr. President, may I
first of all congratulate you on your election, and on the
dignified and effective way in which you are already
presiding over this Assembly. You have a burdensome job
and we wish you all good fortune as you discharge it.
I have sometimes heard speakers from this rostrum
patrol the world in their speeches in the general debate,
dealing at length with one continent after another. Indeed,
I have done so myself in past years. There is much to
describe: events in the Middle East and South Africa are
particularly encouraging, and developments in Russia, as we
have just heard from Mr. Kozirev, are particularly important.
But today it seems to me that in the time available, the focus
of interest should not only be on distant events or distant
tragedies, but here, in this building, on this institution.
Never has there been a time when the United Nations has
been so discussed, so misunderstood, so needed.
The international task of this decade is managing
disorder. I believe it is possible. But it demands cool
heads, low voices, and an understanding of what we can and
cannot do. It demands concertation between all countries
that take on part of the responsibility for steering the world
through channels which are certainly strewn with rocks.
This concertation takes place in many forums, but nowhere
with greater legal and political authority than here at the
United Nations.
We can now see the events of 1989 in their true
perspective. They did not usher in a new world order. I
think we have to be sober about this. What happened in
1989 was not the birth of a new world order, it was the
collapse of one super-Power and the end of communism as
a threat to world peace.
The tragedies of the world have continued. Indeed,
they have probably increased since 1989. "Tragedy" is a
better description than the usual, and overworked, term
"crisis", because "crisis" implies a threat to world peace.
Now that the cold war is over and super-Powers no longer
exert themselves on behalf of clients, it is no longer a crisis
in that sense - a threat to world peace - if Sudan, Bosnia,
Angola, Liberia, Georgia, Afghanistan, Rwanda, Somalia,
Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and others are racked by civil war.
But these are appalling tragedies for those who are killed or
driven from their homes, and indeed for all of us, because
we are all diminished when the bell tolls.
18 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
Some of these tragedies are illuminated by the
haphazard light of television. In those cases, millions of our
citizens, in all our countries, share feelings of sympathy,
indignation and horror. But other tragedies equally foul are
played in a darkened theatre: no television, no audience,
little pressure. But all these tragedies are a reproach to those
of us who are convinced that it is possible slowly and
painstakingly to construct a more decent world.
How do we do that? Not, it is clear, by the remaining
super-Power using its superiority to impose its own solutions
by force. In the 10 tragedies that I listed, the United States
has intervened with troops only in one, Somalia - and that
now on a reduced scale and under the United Nations -
because the United States, quite rightly in my view, is not
prepared to send its troops all over the world, as Rome once
sent its legions all over Europe, to fight, to pacify and to
rule. There are British, French, Spanish and other European
troops in Bosnia today under the command of the United
Nations. But their role is to save Bosnian lives - they do
that daily - implementing United Nations decisions.
Likewise, they are not imposing a European imperium on
that country.
If America and its allies are not to exert themselves as
a joint imperial Power, imposing on other countries and
sustaining laws and rulers of their choice, then the answer
can only lie in reforming and making much better use of the
international institutions to which we belong. They were
mostly built after the Second World War for one purpose
and are now, after the end of the cold war, being hurriedly
adapted for another. The British architect Norman Foster
has just been given the responsibility of designing in Berlin
the new parliament house for a united Germany. If his plans
are accepted, he intends to include the old Reichstag
building alongside the line of the Berlin Wall in a splendid
new structure reaching across the old Wall into East Berlin.
There is a parable here for us as well as for Germany.
Inevitably, we have to cope as best we can with what
we have. A man, after all, may take some shelter in an
unfinished building. I do not believe that an international
organization like ours, which is not a colonizing Power, will
ever be able to guarantee solutions to civil wars or even to
that pernicious variant of a civil war which we see today in
Bosnia. But if there are no guarantees of success, the
United Nations can be helped greatly to improve on its
record. With greater experience, greater resources for
preventive action and effectively coordinated humanitarian
efforts, it can act before the situation gets out of control and
the demand grows for the implementation of sanctions and
for peace enforcement.
I hope that within the next few weeks the European
Community will move into a new phase of working together
on a common foreign and security policy once the Treaty of
Maastricht is ratified by all 12 member States. Our
President, Willy Claes, the Foreign Minister and Deputy
Prime Minister of Belgium, has just illustrated that point.
But one of our main aims as European partners must be to
support and strengthen the role and the work of the United
Nations, for the United Nations is not "them"; it is us, all of
us. We have to take responsibility for it and its failures.
If we want the United Nations to work better, it is up
to us to give the Secretary-General the support he needs in
thoughts, words, deeds and money. I suppose there are few
more lonely or more demanding jobs than that of the
Secretary-General of the United Nations, and the present
Secretary-General certainly has the misfortune to hold his
office in interesting times. He has already given and
continues to give a firm and effective lead. He needs and
deserves our support.
The United Nations is unique. It alone conveys the
word of the international community. Only the United
Nations has the legal powers to translate those words into
action for the maintenance of world peace. We need, as
President Clinton said yesterday, to look at tasks closely, to
ensure that they are properly defined and that the resources
are there to meet them. We may on occasion have to accept
that a mandate should not be given because in reality it
cannot be fulfilled.
Let me follow that by looking briefly at the way we
carry out peace-keeping operations, the way we deploy
preventive diplomacy and the way we run our finances.
Peace-keeping: United Nations blue-helmets are
deployed on nearly every continent. We can reel off the
statistics, but actually we hear too little of individual soldiers
and small detachments. Who knows, for example, of the
single military observer in a remote part of Cambodia who
found himself not only acting as the local arbiter of family
disputes but also providing a local, much appreciated,
medical service using a handbook called When There is No
Doctor, who kept on securing supplies from his wife in
Germany and the field hospital in Phnomh Penh for his
Khmer community? Or the United Nations military observer
who spent his leave in Bangkok fund-raising for a water
filter for a remote Cambodian village? Now, they happen to
be British, but such servants of the world come from many
countries.
Forty-eighth session - 28 September l993 19
We in Britain are committed to our peace-keeping
contribution. We now have over 3,300 men and women in
blue berets around the world.
In June the Secretary-General asked Member States to
identify for him those areas of United Nations peace-keeping
operations which needed strengthening and for our ideas on
positive steps we could take. I look forward to his report
drawing all those responses together.
Useful steps have certainly been taken. There is now
a 24-hour operations room, improving the ability of those
here in New York to oversee operations around the world.
The standby force planning project has been started. A new
Department of Peace-keeping Operations is responsible for
all United Nations field missions. We can build on these
improvements.
Good organization involves clarity and sobriety in
setting out our objectives. That means that any operation
must have clear and achievable objectives linked to a
political process which offers reasonable hope of a solution,
and to which all parties should be committed. The mandate
should be precise and finite. That means adequate support
at Headquarters for planning and reconnaissance missions.
It means that the Security Council must resist the temptation
to become involved in the detailed conduct of operations. It
means the mandate must not create impossible obligations
for a force commander on the ground. Once an operation is
agreed, command and control relationships could be more
clearly defined.
Unity of command at the highest level is essential.
Where the United Nations is charged with executing as well
as authorizing a peace-keeping operation, all aspects of it
should be handled by a single department in New York.
That is why we have suggested the creation of an expanded
planning and operations staff. This in effect is a general
staff for peace-keeping. These men and women, civilian and
military, would be able together to provide the necessary
core of the United Nations strategic-planning chain. They
would operate mainly here in New York, but also in the
field. They would provide the United Nations with the
nervous system for which its present staff is neither
structured nor resourced.
We are not proposing here some new and heavy
bureaucracy. On the contrary, we are talking about core
staff: trained staff officers, United Nations civil affairs and,
increasingly, humanitarian advisers, and chief administrative
officers. The example of the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), of a special
envoy for all humanitarian and refugee aspects of an
operation, is good.
Then, there must be flexibility in running peace-keeping
operations. The more comprehensive a bureaucracy
becomes, the harder it is for it to stay nimble on its feet.
Doctrinal and administrative difficulties in working with
other international organizations can be overcome. For
example, the United Nations is already building valuable
links with the Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Europe (CSCE) and with the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO). Many peace-keeping and
peacemaking operations can be run more effectively by
regional organizations or single countries on behalf of the
United Nations. That depends on the nature of the problem
and on the proposed action agreed by the United Nations.
I am thinking, for example, of the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS) in Liberia, the Organization
of African Unity (OAU) in Rwanda, and the European
Community and NATO in the former Yugoslavia.
Regional organizations can also be asked to help with
training. We might look at getting certain nations with well-
trained, equipped and available forces to provide the first
wave of a peace-keeping force, allowing other nations the
time to train and equip their forces to the required standard.
A commitment to deploy early would of course need to be
matched by a United Nations commitment to agree a firm
end-date for the deployment, because exits can be as
important as entrances.
What we cannot do, we should not pretend to do. If
we play a game of bluff, we can deceive and disappoint
others, and sometimes we deceive and disappoint ourselves.
Rarely can we attain our ends that way. It is empty to
pretend that we can impose peace with justice on every
disorder, every dispute, outside our national borders.
But what the United Nations can do, it should do well.
Cambodia, for example, is a success story. So was Namibia.
Our peace-keepers have been able to limit, though not stop,
conflict and to assuage, though not bring to and end,
suffering in Bosnia and Somalia. But the authority of the
United Nations will suffer if it fails to approach new
challenges realistically and flexibly.
However important peace-keeping may be, successful
preventive diplomacy would be better. I have just been
reading the book published this week by our Australian
colleague, the Australian Foreign Minister, Senator Gareth
Evans. His new book, Cooperating for Peace, brings this
point out well and is full of fruitful ideas. Defusing trouble
20 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
costs a great deal less than a military operation. You can
field plenty of emissaries for the price of a battalion. But to
be useful, of course, an emissary has to set about his work
before the excitement of violence has taken hold.
The Secretary-General has been energetic here. He has
sent missions to several areas of tension - to Tajikistan and
other regions of the former Soviet Union, to Macedonia, to
South Africa and elsewhere.
But in this as in other parts of the United Nations
system money is tight. Many missions create an acute need
for additional international staff with the necessary skills. I
am thinking not just of eminent people, of retired ministers
or distinguished ambassadors who can head such missions.
The Secretary-General will find them when he needs them.
What he needs from Member States is personnel at a more
junior level with local experience and negotiating skills.
Now, we have discussed this problem in particular with
the French Government, and as an Anglo-French initiative
we stand ready to provide the Secretariat with a list of such
people, people who have experience in Government service -
sometimes outside Government service - and whom we
would be prepared to make available for particular missions.
We would also be prepared to provide a certain amount of
equipment where personnel provided by the United Kingdom
were involved. We are ready to respond to the invitation of
the Secretary-General in "Agenda for Peace" to provide
information crucial to the task of preventive diplomacy. The
British and French Governments are both committed to
support him in this way, and we hope that others may join
in a similar enterprise.
All this work means a financial burden. Of course we
should all pay our assessed contribution in full and promptly.
We do so. So do most of our European partners, the Nordic
countries and those with a long tradition of peace-keeping
like Australia and Canada. But others, not entirely or
always through their own fault, others who share the heavy
burden of international responsibility, do not.
The fact is, the United Nations will always be short
of money. Even if everybody pays up in full and on time,
the United Nations will still have to choose priorities within
the resources available to it. That means - and will always
mean - turning down some good causes, and reappraising
and sometimes bringing to an end existing commitments.
The United Nations needs to conduct a rigorous
scrutiny of what it needs and what it spends. Obviously, it
would be able to afford more operations if it ran the existing
ones more economically. Without thrift, without financial
probity, the authority of the United Nations will weaken and
vanish. So we welcome the Secretary-General’s recent
additional senior appointments at the level of Assistant
Secretary-General, covering administrative and financial
affairs. We support proposals for a system of inspection
with teeth, which can match more delegated financial
authority to the field.
I mention these three areas - peace-keeping, preventive
diplomacy and finance. If we can tackle these three areas
constructively and vigorously, there is no reason why even
under present strains the authority of the United Nations
should not grow as strikingly as the burden of expectations
now placed upon it. People will always continue to turn to
the United Nations, even if they will always expect more of
us than is conceivable.
We are discussing, in that context, reform, and we in
Britain welcome the debate on Security Council reform. We
are discussing positively the enlargement of the Council.
This will be complex, as our debate already makes clear,
because there are many currents and cross-currents of view.
I do not doubt that if there were to be consensus on
enlarging the Security Council there are some countries
which, because of their global interests, their contribution to
international security, their contribution to United Nations
peace-keeping, could undertake the full range of
responsibilities of a permanent member and can certainly be
expected to do so.
I have concentrated simply on this Organization for the
reason which I gave. Few tasks are more important than
improving the way the United Nations works if we are to
secure a more stable world. We have lived through the
events of these last few years. They have been dramatic and
exhilarating, they have changed the political and strategic
landscape, but they have not removed from us our
responsibility to work constructively for a better United
Nations. This better world order will not happen because we
make a few speeches or pass a few resolutions. It will be
constructed steadily, brick by brick, learning always the right
lessons from the past, developing steadily our international
institutions and our international relations.
It is fair to say that in the last four years, with its ups
and downs, we have come a long way, and I believe that,
together, we have the will and the wisdom to continue along
that road.


I am pleased to convey my congratulations to
Ambassador Samuel Insanally, the Permanent Representative
of Guyana and a distinguished member of our Latin
American and Caribbean Group, on his well-deserved
election as President of the General Assembly.
A short while ago, we were hailing the end of the cold
war. There seemed to be a fresh possibility of building a
new international order based on sound moral principles,
namely the principles of justice, law, freedom and
democracy.
The Gulf crisis, caused by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait,
offered the international community an opportunity to react
resolutely to restore the rights thus violated. The principles
of condemnation of the use or the threat of the use of force
as a means of settling disputes were underscored. The
inadmissibility and illegitimacy of the acquisition of
territories through force were reaffirmed. The principles of
the peaceful settlement of disputes and respect for the
sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of States
were strengthened. Ecuador was gratified to see the
resultant reinforcement of the fundamental and age-old
pillars of its international policy.
The world today aspires more firmly and decisively to
live in freedom and democracy and in an atmosphere of full
respect for human rights.
This fundamental change has allowed the spread, not
only of positive forces, but also of underlying conflicts
which, within various regions, have set off apparently
uncontainable escalation.
The United Nations, whose prestige had reached new
heights, was facing increasingly numerous, pressing and
complex problems. Extreme nationalism had flared up in the
Forty-eighth session - 5 October l993 17
Balkans and elsewhere, while the breakdown of authority
had given rise to tragic humanitarian situations in Somalia
and in other regions. In Cambodia, the Organization had to
contribute to rebuilding the State.
The problems have not disappeared; on the contrary,
they proliferate in the former Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia and in the former Soviet Union. The large
numbers of refugees created by war serve as a pretext for
extremist, nationalist and xenophobic ideologies to arise in
the very heart of Europe.
The world, which applauded United Nations action on
the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, is examining with a critical eye
the Organization’s inaction and ineffectiveness in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. In Bonn, the graffiti read, "Europe is dying in
Sarajevo". In the Iraq-Kuwait conflict, the use of force and
the acquisition of territory by force was condemned, but it
seems that in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina the use of
force is being allowed to yield results and to expand the
territory of the aggressor. Here is a clear illustration that
international morality is opposed to double standards of
action.
In that context, Ecuador views as vital the work under
way to restructure and strengthen the world Organization.
The General Assembly must shoulder with greater authority
its responsibilities as the most representative democratic
organ of the United Nations. The Security Council needs to
be restructured to reflect the striking changes in the
membership of the United Nations and to ensure that it is
more representative and, hence, more legitimate. We
commend all the steps being taken to that end, and we
support others that still need to be taken to ensure that the
work of the Council is characterized by vision and
transparency. We think that its membership should be
expanded, within limits ensuring that its work will be
effective and aimed at the democratization of the
Organization. Democratizing participation in the Council’s
work requires the presence of States of special significance
on the international scene, such as Germany and Japan, and
of representatives of other geographical areas not now
properly represented.
The work of the United Nations in the economic and
social fields should be strengthened and made more
effective. We must not forget that peace is threatened not
only by military aggression but also, and even more, by
situations of injustice or crisis that ought to be settled in a
spirit of international solidarity. For that reason, Ecuador
looks forward to seeing as soon as possible the report the
General Assembly has requested of the Secretary-General, on
an agenda for development.
Ecuador was pleased by the results of the recent World
Conference on Human Rights. We believe that the Vienna
Declaration and Programme of Action constitute an
important step forward towards recognizing the universal
nature of human rights. The right to development is
universal and inalienable. Ecuador appeals to all States to
make an effort to implement the goals and purposes of the
Vienna Programme of Action.
Ecuador is deeply gratified by the positive
developments in South Africa. We hope that the elections
scheduled for 1994 will mark the conclusive establishment
of a democratic, non-racial, pluralistic society truly free and
open to progress.
The most important element of progress may well be
social development. For that reason, Ecuador firmly
supported the initiative to convene the World Summit for
Social Development. We reiterate our backing for the
international community’s decision, which will add meaning
to the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the
United Nations.
The world economy is at a difficult stage. Even the
developed economies are in deep crisis. We must adopt a
new monetary and fiscal policy aimed at promoting short-
term recovery and at eliminating structural imbalances in the
medium term. It is vital to coordinate the macro-economic
policies of the strongest countries in order to promote world
economic growth. It is necessary also to take account of the
legitimate interests of all countries, especially developing
countries.
It will be impossible to maintain and bolster our
democracies without at the same time engaging in economic
and social programmes aimed at improved living standards
for all. In addressing these issues we should not rely solely
on old economic statistical systems, but should turn to
systems that evaluate the quality of life, such as that
proposed by the United Nations Development Programme.
I would recall that a country’s domestic policies play a
dominant part in its development process. Ecuador has
decided to carry out serious and thorough structural reforms
that will permit greater scope for private enterprise and
individual initiative and that will reduce Government
intervention wherever it has proved to be ineffective and
inappropriate.
18 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
Economic development is meaningful when it addresses
human reality. To achieve this, we must be firmly
committed to modernizing the State and, by our example,
ensuring that morality prevails in the work of the
Government.
But national efforts to modernize the State and open the
economy to the universal trend towards freedom require
timely, adequate financial support. This should be obtained,
basically, by establishing a trading system making possible
fair prices for commodities and other exports of developing
countries. Ironically, while they make splendid speeches in
favour of free trade, the powerful countries continue to
impose measures that contradict their fine words. One
example is the import barriers on Latin American bananas
imposed by the European Economic Community.
We are concerned about what results will issue from
the Uruguay Round of negotiations under the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). We need
transparent machinery to fight protectionism; this must result
from true international negotiations.
For many countries, certainly including Ecuador, the
external debt continues to be one of the most serious
problems and one that has the heaviest negative impact, not
only in the economic but also in the social and even political
fields. We must review the financial policies of the
international credit agencies and complement their resources
with direct private investment, so that the flow of capital
from the developing world to the developed countries does
not, as has happened to date, exceed the amount of aid or
investment channelled to the developing countries.
Prudent and appropriate regulation of the environment
and development is a task that concerns and interests us all.
We must promote sustainable development that will meet
humanity’s needs today without jeopardizing the rights of
future generations. The Rio Conference is of far-reaching
importance and the fulfilment of the decisions and
commitments undertaken there is crucial. Agenda 21 is a
historic document requiring political resolve on the part of
all if it is to be put into effect. In that regard, the
establishment and consolidation of financial sources is
essential.
In the context of international security it is vitally
important that all international agreements concluded within
the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency
be strictly complied with, and that the inspection systems be
strengthened to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
In this respect, we support all efforts to create new
nuclear-weapon-free zones and we voice our concern at any
failure to comply with the resolutions relating to the Korean
peninsula. We urge the Government of the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea to heed the just demands of the
international community.
Today, I have heard with great concern of a possible
breach of the moratorium on nuclear testing by the People’s
Republic of China. If that information is confirmed, it will
represent a grave step backwards in the process of
establishing moratoriums on nuclear testing. We hope that
it will not trigger a rush to new testing on the part of other
nuclear Powers.
In Latin America, democracy and freedom have been
strengthened. It is our hope that, by means of the exercise
of the right of peoples to self-determination, Latin American
will soon be free of the remaining exceptions.
The case of Haiti is particularly disquieting. Respect
for democracy and human values is a basic pillar of civilized
coexistence. Ecuador believes that the joint action of the
international community must encourage a new phase that
will provide the Haitian people with certain basic guarantees.
Throughout its history, Ecuador has demonstrated its
peaceful spirit in true and unquestionable terms. In that
spirit, it participated in the United Nations Observer Group
in Central America and the United Nations Observer Mission
in El Salvador. It continues to support the latter and has
offered its forces for other peace-keeping operations.
The proliferation of peace-keeping operations has
highlighted the need to carry out a careful review of the
conditions in which these operations are created and carried
out and the limits of their respective mandates. This
Organization should set the example of austerity in fund
management in order to enhance its moral authority and its
effectiveness.
In the light of its special links with Latin America,
Ecuador attaches particular importance to its relations with
neighbouring countries. Our Government has strengthened
and expanded its traditional relations with Colombia, and
they have recently been evolving with great promise.
A similar process is under way between the
Governments of Ecuador and Peru. The Presidents of
Ecuador and Peru have given repeated and eloquent proof of
their political resolve to make progress in the process of
dialogue that has opened between the two countries. This
Forty-eighth session - 5 October l993 19
process will enable us to ensure a climate of friendship, trust
and understanding and to narrow the differences in our
positions on the territorial issue. Together we can make
significant steps towards promoting the well-being of our
peoples, and as we move towards understanding we will be
able to overcome the differences which have long been an
obstacle in the way of a new era of fruitful coexistence.
The Government of Ecuador was pleased and very
grateful to note the demonstrations of support from many
countries, particularly American ones, for our dialogue with
Peru. We also appreciated the message that His Holiness
Pope John Paul II addressed to President Sixto Durán Ballén
and President Alberto Fujimori on the occasion of their
meeting in Bahía de Caráques in December 1992.
Ecuador, by tradition and inclination, has been a peace-
loving nation and believes that the only valid way to
overcome the territorial differences persisting between it and
Peru lies in the peaceful settlement of disputes. One option
in that regard is the arbitration of His Holiness the Pope,
who, with his lofty moral authority and his enduring
devotion to understanding and harmony among peoples, is
extremely well qualified. That is why the Constitutional
President of Ecuador, Sixto Durán Ballén, speaking from this
very rostrum at the forty-seventh session of the General
Assembly, reiterated the initiative which former Ecuadorian
President Rodrigo Borja set forth at the forty-sixth session
of the General Assembly concerning the arbitration of the
Holy See.
In response to this initiative and in keeping with the
spirit of dialogue that has been maintained and cultivated
between the two countries, the President of Peru proposed
the participation of the Holy See through the mediation of an
expert adviser who would offer his opinion from the point
of view of that neighbouring and friendly country with
respect to the "frontier disputes" with Ecuador.
We now have two proposals that are distinct in scope
and content: on the one hand, arbitration, and on the other
the assistance of an expert adviser. But they coincide in
their recognition of the great help to be had from the Pontiff,
who in the course of history has traditionally worked for
rapprochement and understanding among peoples. These
very differences and varied proposals highlight the need to
preserve and strengthen the process of dialogue between the
two countries. Ecuador is faithfully committed to that
process with a view not only to finding the fairest, most
realistic and honourable solution to the problem, but also in
order to respond appropriately to all the possibilities for
complementary action, cooperation and joint endeavour that
these two countries could and should pursue with a view to
securing the development, integration and well-being for
their peoples.
Thus, we shall no longer be divided by borders and
borders will become points of union and of promising
cooperation, with tremendous scope and possibilities. This
has been the case with regard to the maritime area that we
share; this is the hope of the two peoples, especially the
peoples of southern Ecuador and northern Peru; this must be
the case with regard to the Amazon River meeting for a
historic reconciliation of our two nations that adequately
meets the major interests of the two countries in the Amazon
region and identifies them in plans that take account of their
individual and collective rights, enhance their potential and
create conditions reflecting the importance of a major river
system and a region that all the countries of the basin must
preserve and promote for the sake of current development as
well as the future well-being of our peoples.
In this spirit of frank and constructive dialogue,
President Sixto Durán Ballén accepted the kind invitation of
President Alberto Fujimori to visit Peru. Ecuador’s Foreign
Ministry is busy making preparations with the authorities of
that friendly country for this mission so that the greatest
possible success may be achieved.
A few days ago the world enthusiastically welcomed
the handshake between two courageous men who had opted
for peace and understanding. I should like, on behalf of
Ecuador, to pay tribute to Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin and
President Yasser Arafat. I am confident that this gesture,
this historic event, will be not only the beginning of a tough
but promising relationship aimed at securing understanding
and cooperation between the two peoples but also a signal,
a sign of the times, for many other peoples who have to
pursue the arduous path of peace and understanding.
For this reason, President Clinton was absolutely right
when, on that historic morning, he said:
"We know that a difficult path lies before us.
Every peace has its own enemies - those who always
prefer the easy attitudes of hatred to the hard task of
reconciliation."
Ecuador believes in peace and trusts in peace and
understanding. Hence, I wish to associate myself with the
noble words of Cardinal Antonio Samoré, the delegate of the
Holy Father in the Papal mediation between the fraternal
countries of Argentina and Chile, in his speech at the time
20 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
of the signing, in Montevideo, of the commitment between
the two countries:
"I say to all of you - Christians, believers and men
of good will: do not be afraid to opt for peace, to
educate for peace. The aspiration to peace will never
be disappointed. The endeavour to achieve peace
inspired by charity that never fails will yield its fruits.
Peace will be the last word in history."
Against this background, and with a view to ensuring
that these efforts are made in an appropriate climate of
genuine understanding and harmony and will be effective, I
formally take the opportunity, at this rostrum, to propose to
the Government of Peru that, reaffirming the commitment
that both countries have made in accordance with many
existing international instruments - principally, the United
Nations Charter - we give our word of honour that, in our
mutual relations, we shall not resort to force or to the threat
of the use of force. Such a solemn commitment would
underscore an essential legal obligation and amount to an
eloquent additional means of promoting mutual trust; and it
would be an appropriate framework for continued dialogue
on the path of peace and understanding, with a view to
achieving, as soon as possible, a fair, honourable and lasting
settlement between the two countries.


Mr. President, I should like to begin by congratulating you
on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly
and by expressing our confidence in your ability to steer the
proceedings of the present session.
I also express our gratitude to the outgoing President,
Mr. Stoyan Ganev, for the dedicated way in which he
fulfilled his mandate and contributed to the rationalization of
the work of the Assembly.
I also congratulate the Secretary-General,
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, whose initiative and commitment
have already made it possible to take important steps
towards a thorough reform of the United Nations and
towards strengthening its international credibility as an
irreplaceable instrument of peace.
The universal calling of the United Nations, enshrined
in its Charter, gives special meaning to the accession of six
new Member States, Andorra, the Czech Republic, Eritrea,
the Slovak Republic, Monaco and the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia; they have reinforced the legitimacy
of this forum and assumed, before the international
community, the responsibility entailed in the full exercise of
national sovereignty.
My Belgian colleague, in his capacity as current
President of the Council of Ministers of the European
Communities, has already had the opportunity to make a
statement on behalf of the 12 member States; Portugal fully
subscribes to that statement. I should, however, like to refer
to a number of issues that are of particular importance to my
country.
The period of global transition now before us is marked
by particularly contradictory signs.
On the one hand, the détente that surfaced with the end
of the cold war has led to an increase in regional integration
and the strengthening of cooperation between States, and has
brought to life the concept of complementing the activities
of the United Nations with those of regional organizations
and arrangements.
On the other hand, violent nationalistic claims have
re-emerged and old and seemingly forgotten antagonisms
have resurfaced, leading to an unexpected outbreak of
conflicts that threaten the internal cohesion of States and
international peace and security.
In this context, and more so than ever, the role of the
United Nations collective security system, now back on the
front line of international relations, seems decisive. For this
reason, we attach great significance to the ongoing
restructuring of the Secretariat. We also deem particularly
important the reform of the Security Council, which has
special responsibilities and is now free to accomplish its
original mission and to emerge as the driving force behind
the Organization’s political activities in maintaining stability
and peace.
Other organizations, such as the European Community,
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE),
have, in their turn, an important role to play in consolidating
democracy, maintaining stability and promoting development
in the entire European region.
It is essential for close cooperation to be established
between those bodies and the United Nations - which has a
primary and universal responsibility - so as to avoid
duplication and to enhance what each can contribute to the
search for peace and stability.
Peace-keeping operations have recently undergone a
considerable expansion, and we are witnessing the
deployment of large numbers of men and women in
situations of various natures, including the protection of
humanitarian assistance missions and preventive diplomacy
initiatives. The involvement of military contingents in those
operations requires clear political aims as well as unity of
command and close and permanent coordination between the
Secretariat and the interested parties, namely the contributing
States and those States that may be able to offer, in a
constructive manner, a political contribution to the peace
processes.
Resolving the conflicts of today, building peace and
preventing the conflicts of tomorrow will be no simple task.
The demands and expectations that fall upon the United
Nations have no historical precedent, and so every effort
must be made to turn "An Agenda for Peace" into a reality.
Only then will the Organization be able to cope with
the present and future challenges of maintaining peace,
12 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
giving humanitarian assistance and providing aid for
development.
Unfortunately, as I speak, the United Nations is
confronting its greatest financial crisis in 48 years of
existence and is facing the risk of not being able to assume
its responsibilities in the important domain of maintaining
international security.
This question remains the cornerstone of the future
activity of the United Nations. If it remains unanswered, the
consequences for the United Nation credibility and for world
peace will be dramatic.
An important development that has resulted from the
end of the cold war concerns respect for human rights,
which are inalienable and universal and figure above all
other considerations when we look at a particular political
regime or model of society. We believe that it is necessary
for the international community today to judge violations of
human rights without double standards.
In this respect, I should like to stress the importance of
the final declaration of the Vienna Conference, which
emphasizes fundamental ideas and principles, specifically,
those that concern the responsibilities of the international
community in this area and define human rights as a priority
for the United Nations. With this aim, it is now urgent for
the General Assembly to discuss, without delay, the
establishment of the post of high commissioner for human
rights.
A commonality of values that reflect the dignity of the
human person is an indispensable component of a better
international order allowing the development of peaceful and
lasting international relations. Thus, together with peace,
development and democracy, we consider human rights to be
one of the basic principles that should govern international
society.
It is precisely because of the imperatives of human
solidarity, and because we believe that the international
community has an important role to play, that Portugal, both
as a State and as a member of the European Community, is
following with deep concern the conflict that, for the last
two years, has been devastating parts of the territory of the
former Yugoslavia. Portugal reiterates its firm position that
only a settlement accepted by the three parties can put an
end to this blood-stained chapter in European history.
The Portuguese Government truly regrets the
interruption of the latest negotiating round in Geneva at a
time when an agreement seemed within reach.
We once again urge all the parties involved in the
conflict to show the necessary good will and flexibility so as
to put an end to the suffering of the affected populations.
Portugal considers that it is extremely urgent for a viable
and just peace agreement to be signed: Only thus will the
conditions for a return to peace be met.
Lastly, I wish to pay a tribute to the United Nations
Protection Force - in which Portugal has the privilege of
being included - to the European Community monitoring
mission and to all humanitarian organizations operating in
the area of the former Yugoslavia for the tasks they have
performed under circumstances of particular hardship.
Portugal, a country which is historically and culturally
linked to Africa, is profoundly aware of the unparalleled,
appalling and ever-deteriorating living conditions prevailing
in vast regions of the continent. Today, Africa certainly
deserves the international community’s special attention. It
is in Africa that we should concentrate our principal efforts
to end wars that are sometimes forgotten, but that are laying
waste to large areas, and it is to Africa that we should be
directing economic resources in quantities commensurate
with the unparalleled scale of the problems it is facing.
Only by increasing trade flows, economic ties and
humanitarian assistance can we provide a degree of certainty
for the success of democratization and progress.
I should like to refer also to the utmost importance that
we attach to the work of the Organization of African Unity
in the search for solutions to bring an end to the conflicts
that overshadow Africa.
In Africa, there are five countries that officially use
Portuguese. With these countries we have steadily deepened
our ties in all areas. Based on a common culture and values,
we are developing, together with Brazil and these African
countries, a true community of Portuguese-speaking nations
that is characterized by solidarity and tolerance.
It was precisely because of these special ties that my
Government interceded in the Angolan conflict. The
mediation efforts it deployed there, together with the United
States and Russia, resulted in the signing in Lisbon of the
Acordos de Paz on 31 May 1991. The year and a half of
peace that followed those agreements raised in all the
Angolan people the legitimate expectation that almost
30 years of war were coming to an end. It also revealed
Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 13
stimulating signs of economic recovery and the advent of a
new era of democracy and national reconciliation. Angolans
therefore participated massively in the elections of last
September. The resurgence of war in Angola cause by
UNITA’s failure to accept the results of the elections calls
for a new effort from the international community to re--
establish the cease-fire and to safeguard the democratic
process, in accordance with the legitimate wishes for peace
and democracy of the Angolan people.
Portugal welcomed the adoption on 15 September of
Security Council resolution 864 (1993), in which the
Council, in the wake of previous resolutions and under
Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, decided
upon a set of important measures.
I remain convinced that dialogue is possible, and that
only through direct negotiations between the Government of
Angola and UNITA can a lasting solution and a durable
peace be found. I therefore once again urge UNITA to
return to the negotiating table, on the basis of the Acordos
de Paz and full acceptance of the outcome of the
September 1992 elections and the Abidjan guidelines, which
were reached with the invaluable help of President
Houphouet-Boigny and the Government of Côte d’Ivoire.
I applaud the peace initiatives undertaken by the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General, to which Portugal,
together with the two other countries of the troika of
observers, the United States and Russia, has given its
strongest support.
Only with the restoration of peace will it be possible to
bring about an end to the suffering of the Angolan people
and make possible the provision of the much-needed
humanitarian assistance that the international community is
ready to provide. In this respect, the efforts already made
by the specialized agencies of the United Nations and the
International Committee of the Red Cross are to be
commended.
Regarding Mozambique, the role of the United Nations
in conducting the peace process is for us a source of
satisfaction. In this context, we welcome the adoption of
Security Council resolution 850 (1993), which is a sign of
the Organization’s unequivocal commitment to bringing this
process to a satisfactory conclusion.
Portugal is deeply involved in the Mozambique peace
process, not only through its active contribution to the
United Nations Operation in Mozambique but also through
its participation in the structures created by the General
Peace Agreement and through our contributions pledged
during the donors’ conference last December.
We also welcome the results of the recent meeting
between the President of Mozambique and the leader of
RENAMO, which represented a breakthrough and gave
reason for hope in a future of peace and prosperity in
Mozambique.
The positive outcome of that meeting, namely, the
agreement on the issues of territorial administration and
police, has been recognized by Security Council resolution
863 (1993), in which all parties are urged to implement
without delay all the provisions of the General Peace
Agreement so that the elections can be held in October 1994
at the latest.
Concerning South Africa, we are following events there
closely, in particular the multiparty negotiations, which we
hope will meet with success and constitute the foundations
of a new, multiracial reality.
The withdrawal of significant forces in South African
society from those negotiations is a cause for concern, and
could have a negative impact on the normal course of the
transition process, which, as we all hope, will end with the
holding of elections next year.
The spread of violence in South Africa provides a
special cause for concern, as pointed out by the European
Community observer mission in South Africa and the
Goldstone Commission, in both of which Portugal is
participating actively. We deeply regret the violence, which
cannot but jeopardize the path to national reconciliation.
We must stress, however, the positive aspect, namely
the progress achieved with the 7 September agreement at the
multiparty negotiations on the creation of the Transitional
Executive Council. This was achieved by the efforts of the
various parties that believe in a consensus solution for the
political transition in South Africa.
I should also like to refer to Mr. Nelson Mandela’s
praiseworthy appeal, before the Special Committee against
Apartheid, for an end to the economic sanctions imposed
against South Africa, an appeal which constitutes a valuable
encouragement to the process of political reform initiated by
President F. W. de Klerk.
Leaving now the African continent, I would say that
Portugal, because of its very important legal, moral and
14 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
historic responsibilities in the case, continues to devote, as
a matter of priority, particular attention to the question of
East Timor, a Non-Self-Governing Territory recognized by
the United Nations as being under Portuguese administration,
its decolonization process not having been completed.
I should like to reaffirm, at this rostrum, my country’s
position of principle on this question: Portugal accepts in
full the relevant resolutions adopted by the General
Assembly and Security Council regarding East Timor.
These resolutions reaffirm the need to apply, in the case of
East Timor, the essential principles and rules adopted by this
Organization on decolonization; those contained not only in
the Charter, but in the historic resolutions 1514 (XV) and
1541 (XV) as well. The rejection of military conquest as the
basis for claiming territorial enlargement, the need to respect
East Timor’s territorial integrity and the right of its people
to self-determination are clearly established in those
resolutions.
We remain firmly committed to achieving, in a peaceful
and negotiated manner, a just, comprehensive and
internationally acceptable settlement to this question. That
settlement must not fail to meet the standards of
international law and must fully respect the legitimate rights
of the East Timorese, who are those most directly concerned
and who have been the principal victims of this painful and
long-protracted problem.
I should especially like to applaud the efforts of the
Secretary-General - and those of his collaborators - under
whose auspices talks have been held with Indonesia aimed
at settling this issue. We do recognize how very difficult
this task is as a result of the wide gap between the positions
of the parties on the substance of the question, which is the
conclusion of the process of the decolonization of the
Territory. Three rounds of discussions have already taken
place at the Ministerial level, and we are in the process of
adopting a set of confidence-building measures in order to
improve the atmosphere of dialogue and to foster the
advancement of the process.
Allow me to quote, in this context, a passage of the
progress report submitted, just a few days ago, by the
Secretary-General to the General Assembly:
"Equally important and intrinsically linked to the
peace process is the human rights situation in East
Timor. The improvement of the conditions in East
Timor is sine qua non to progress in the talks".
(A/48/418, para. 5)
I am sorry to have to say that, unfortunately, the human
rights situation prevailing in the territory continues to elicit
condemnation on the part of the international community.
The resolutions adopted this year by the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights and by its Subcommission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities
are a clear demonstration of this. We sincerely hope that
steps will be taken that will bring about a tangible and
genuine improvement of the situation in the territory and that
this can be monitored without obstruction. I therefore call
upon all Governments and human rights organizations to
continue to keep a close eye on the situation in East Timor.
We are witnessing events of great significance in other
parts of the world. Allow me to emphasize those which
merit our particular attention.
Portugal remains faithful to the construction of an
enlarged and strengthened Europe. We are close, therefore,
to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and, guided
by that objective, we propose to contribute through our
participation in the framework of the European Community
with a view to enhancing dialogue as well as political and
economic cooperation. This approach will ensure peace,
stability and economic well-being.
In this context of the joint responsibility of all actors on
the international scene, we should encourage the ongoing
political and economic reforms in the States that have
emerged from the collapse of the former Soviet Union aimed
at a peaceful evolution towards democratic societies based
on the rule of law and fundamental human rights. We
support their progressive integration into the international
economy, which will prevent the political division of the
past from being replaced with a new economic gap.
Allow me to salute at this point President Yeltsin for
his courage and determination to carry on without
interruption the process of political and economic reform
that is indispensable for the complete democratization and
development of the Russian Federation.
We lend our unequivocal support to all the efforts made
by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
(CSCE) and the United Nations - which constitute a good
test for cooperation between regional organizations and the
United Nations - to reach peaceful settlements to the
disputes that have arisen on the territory of the former Soviet
Union.
Regarding nuclear arms control and disarmament,
Portugal considers the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 15
Nuclear Weapons to be an instrument of major importance,
and looks forward to its indefinite extension at the 1995
Review Conference. Portugal urges all the parties that have
not yet done so to ratify it, and reiterates the need for all the
nuclear-weapon States that have emerged from the former
Soviet Union to implement and comply with the obligations
resulting from the START I and START II Treaties and the
Lisbon Protocol.
At this point, allow me to stress the importance my
Government attaches to the work of the Conference on
Disarmament, to which my country has recently presented its
candidature for full membership.
I wish to refer here to the current negotiations that are
seeking to conclude the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade talks. While we hope for their successful conclusion,
which we consider to be fundamental for the world
economy, we also believe that the result should reflect a
global and balanced solution based on an opening of markets
and a reinforcement of the rules of international trade.
I should like to take this opportunity to congratulate the
Government of Israel and the leaders of the Palestine
Liberation Organization for the realism, lucidity, courage and
also imagination they displayed with the conclusion of the
recent agreement, which represents a historic step towards
the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace
for the Middle East based upon the relevant resolutions of
the United Nations. The agreement will certainly lend a new
and encouraging vitality to the peace process in both its
bilateral and multilateral tracks, irreversibly consolidating the
latest developments.
Geographical proximity and historic and cultural ties
justify the genuine attention with which my country is
following the evolution of the situation in the Maghreb.
Portugal has stressed, within the European Community and
in other international forums, the importance of that region
to security and stability in the Mediterranean. In this sense,
the declaration of the Heads of State and Government at the
Lisbon meeting of the Council of Europe set out a new
approach to a political, economic, social and cultural
dialogue between the European Community and the Maghreb.
Portugal has centuries-old relations of friendship with
Latin America. Our special relationship with Brazil cannot
be overemphasized. We are therefore in a position, in the
spirit of the recent Ibero-American Summit in Salvador da
Bahia, to enhance dialogue and cooperation with this region.
In this respect, I should like to stress the importance we
attach to an agenda for development in the advancement of
a constructive and effective dialogue aimed at identifying
and exploring new forms of solidarity in encouraging
international cooperation for development.
In respect of the activities of the European Community,
we have been striving to strengthen European ties with Latin
America, through the San José process and the Rio group,
by encouraging the efforts - which have already made
progress possible - aimed at increasing respect for
democratic institutions and human rights and developing new
forms of economic integration.
I should also like to mention the current negotiations on
the preservation of natural resources and the maintenance of
environmental balance. The obligations of States go beyond
the mere signature of multilateral treaties. At stake is a
legacy to future generations of sufficient, conserved and
renewable resources to ensure their well-being.
All efforts in that direction deserve the commitment of
the international community as a whole, through the
implementation of policies of a continental or even global
scope. The Rio Conference was merely a step on the long
road to convincing the world of the need to preserve the
environment and to maintain the balance between the means
of production and the human component without resorting to
destruction and waste.
It is now important to put into practice the decisions of
the Rio Conference in order to give expression to the
measures decided on there. Portugal will not fail to do its
part, in the full realization that only then shall we be able to
build a future for coming generations.
At this point in its history, the United Nations is facing
an unprecedented opportunity and, for the first time, can
play the role originally intended for it, without restriction, in
the resolution of conflicts and the maintenance of
international stability and as the custodian of respect for
human rights.
We are all committed to providing a positive
contribution to meeting this challenge. Portugal, for its part,
will do everything possible to achieve these ambitious goals.


Before I begin my statement, I should like to offer
my condolences to the Government and people of India on
the natural disaster that has just struck them. I should like
to assure them, on behalf of the people of Burkina Faso, that
we grieve most profoundly with them.
I wish, at the outset, to congratulate Mr. Insanally on
his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its
forty-eighth session and to wish him every success in the
discharge of the important responsibilities thus made
incumbent upon him.
I should also like to pay a tribute to his predecessor,
Mr. Stoyan Ganev of Bulgaria, for the dedication with which
he presided over the work of the Assembly at its fortyseventh session.
I wish also to take advantage of this opportunity to
welcome the new States that have joined our Organization.
We look forward to their active participation in the work of
the Assembly so that we might, together, strive to preserve
the peace, bring development to our peoples and ensure
justice among nations.
May I also convey to the Secretary-General,
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the most sincere congratulations
and encouragement of the Government of Burkina Faso in
respect of his tireless efforts day after day to safeguard
peace throughout the world and also to revitalize the United
Nations system.
While the ideals enshrined in the United Nations
Charter remain as valid as they were on the very first day,
the international community continues to suffer the
aftershocks of East-West confrontation. What I said at the
forty-seventh session remains true:
"The collapse of one of the two blocs did not solve the
world’s problems. Rather, it emphasized the NorthSouth split; old wounds that are still open; internal
contradictions within regions; and divisions among
nations." (A/47/PV.21, p. 86)
In Africa, prospects run from an anxious outlook in
some cases to measured hope in others. In this connection,
acting on his own convictions as well as on those of Burkina
Faso as a whole as to the needed and indeed indispensable
integration of our continent, President Blaise Compaore has
become active in subregional mediation and is thus making
our contribution to the realization of this grand design for
Africa.
In Angola, the process sponsored by the United Nations
and the international community as a whole is now being
torpedoed by UNITA and Mr. Jonas Savimbi, with their
refusal to accept the outcome of the elections. The suffering
of the Angolan people has been exacerbated, and this today
is the part of the world where, more than anywhere else,
people are dying as a result of civil war. Having learned
from the experience of Angola, the Security Council has
issued useful, indeed necessary, recommendations for
Mozambique. RENAMO is somewhat slow in implementing
these measures. We invite them to pursue the path of
negotiations, to overcome the reluctance shown, and to move
resolutely with the Government of Mozambique towards
reconciliation and reconstruction.
In Somalia, after an encouraging start, United Nations
action is running into obstacles that are having an adverse
effect on the very nature of the peace-keeping operation.
We are still convinced that while firmness is necessary,
dialogue and negotiation with all parties are equally
necessary.
In South Africa, acts of violence continue. Each week
the macabre death toll is mounting as a result of attacks on
public transportation. This is not a climate conducive to
significant, indeed decisive, elections. However, the will for
change which guides the majority of the protagonists in the
tragedy that is apartheid in its death throes must prevail over
all manner of extremism. In view of this, Burkina Faso
hails the statement made by the President of the African
National Congress, Mr. Nelson Mandela, before the Special
Committee against Apartheid on 24 September 1993.
As for Rwanda, Liberia and Western Sahara, Burkina
Faso hopes the agreements achieved can indeed be
implemented so that the people of these regions may at long
last know peace.
The eruption of crises of ethnic, religious or other
origin is continuing, while the conflict in Bosnia and
Herzegovina goes on and on, in contempt of international
law and of the Security Council. We must therefore
welcome the fact that in Cambodia and in El Salvador the
process set in train has led to a beginning of normalization,
Forty-eighth session - 1 October l993 35
and we must encourage Kuwait and Iraq to abide by
Security Council resolution 833 (1993).
While in political terms the picture is mixed, in
economic terms it is bleaker. The world economy is in
recession. Weighed down by its debt, by the fall in raw
material prices, by the deterioration in its terms of trade and
by natural disasters, fluctuations in climate, desertification
and drought, Africa is staggering from one calamity to the
next. Structural adjustment programmes have been
squeezing even harder a continent that has been relegated to
the sidelines notwithstanding its resources and the sacrifices
it has been making. The problems are known, and to
rehearse them here now would sound like a litany and sterile
repetition. The solutions, too, are known. In this respect,
the New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s
has yet to be implemented.
A year after the Rio Conference on Environment and
Development, the commitments and the promises made have
still to take tangible form. However, the same minority
continues to lay waste the planet’s natural resources, while
poverty is increasing and putting down roots in regions
where it used to occur only from time to time or was only
a localized phenomenon.
The global village is no longer just a slogan; it has
become a living reality that at the same time affects the
concept of security. New laws are surfacing everywhere in
an effort to stem a new deluge, immigration. These
measures are an illusion and will remain so long as people
do not realize, or refuse to realize, that the root of the
problem lies in the socio-economic inequalities that afflict
the world.
In addition, population growth will cause unbearable
pressure if real development policies are not put in place
now. The tragedy lies more in the concentration of
resources for a minority than in their scarcity. A community
that is aware of its shortcomings and blind spots can still
heal itself if it has the will to find and to take the necessary
medicine.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
negotiations - the Uruguay Round - must be concluded as
quickly as possible and must take into account the needs of
the developing countries.
Once again, it is the concept of security that has led to
the monstrous stockpiles of weapons of destruction. Nuclear
weapons are the crowning achievement of this march
towards the abyss. To limit the risks, a Non-Proliferation
Treaty was opened for signature, and almost all States have
been invited to sign and ratify it. This is a praiseworthy
initiative, but it is not enough. For the Non-Proliferation
Treaty to have any meaning, in due course the nuclearweapon States must give them up, and we must see our
planet totally and genuinely freed from the nuclear threat.
The preservation of the species and of the planet is
threatened in two ways: the nuclear menace and the harm
we are doing to the environment.
Burkina Faso is participating actively in the work of the
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the elaboration
of an international convention to combat desertification and
of the Commission on Sustainable Development.
It is interesting to note that the harm being done to the
environment in the southern hemisphere comes more from
the effort to survive than from the unbridled desire to
consume at all costs. The relationship established between
development and environment also establishes the
relationship between respect for human rights and
development. One of the great truths brought out and
accepted at the World Conference on Human Rights, held in
Vienna, is that there is a right to development. We cannot
talk about human rights if elementary human rights - the
most elementary human rights - are compromised by
economic, financial and trade policies and strategies to
which some people fall victim. To commit oneself to human
rights nowadays is to commit oneself to changing the world
everywhere and to accepting in every individual the person
that we want to be and to defend. It is humankind as a
whole that we must defend, or nothing; any other approach
means giving in to harmful and questionable divisions
between people.
In the same context, the twin scourges of AIDS and
drug abuse must be fought on all fronts, using all available
resources. From 8 to 13 February this year Burkina Faso
held a series of national seminars on drugs, in which we
reaffirmed the need to provide help and support for the most
disadvantaged countries in order to curb this threat.
We have deadlines in 1994 and 1995, and must prepare
with hard work and dedication to confront then the problems
of population at the Cairo World Conference; to promote
women’s rights at the conference in Beijing; and, in
Copenhagen, to focus on and respond to the need for social
development.
The problems I have enumerated require constant
cooperation from everybody. As we leave the cold war
behind, we have no better instrument for cooperation than
36 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
the United Nations. However, the United Nations is in a
worrying state because its finances are in a bad way, and
that is because some of the largest contributors have not
fulfilled their obligations. It is therefore difficult to talk
about reforming, restructuring and revitalizing the
Organization when the primary task has not been
accomplished. This is the first problem, because it is the
most urgent.
The second problem has to do with the chaotic situation
in the world. This situation is giving rise to peace-keeping
operations, and their frequency and diversity have had an
effect - and in future will have an even greater effect - on
the functioning of the Organization. We approve of the
Secretary-General’s pointing to preventive diplomacy as one
of the solutions. In this respect, at the last summit meeting
of the Organization of African Unity, in Cairo in June 1993,
Africa set up a conflict prevention, management and
settlement mechanism.
The third problem arises from the Organization’s
structural inadequacy to respond to the nature of the
problems it will encounter from now on. Here again, though
we need imagination to open up new approaches and apply
fresh solutions to old and new problems, we must not lose
sight of the fact that everyone must participate in the
proposed solutions.
The fourth problem stems from the notion of
democracy. It has been repeatedly proclaimed to be a cureall, but it cannot remain just a battle standard that we wave
in front of the new troops who have just been won over to
the cause. Democracy must be transformed into a means of
action for achieving better things, for achieving more.
Whether within States or between States, democracy is a
plant that does not stop growing once it has started.
Thus we come to the question of how a body with
limits can function for and on behalf of all. For the
moment, other considerations apply to the Security Council,
because it is the direct inheritor of the balance of power that
arose out of the Second World War. Forty-eight years later,
the debate can certainly be opened. However, as Burkina
Faso said during the forty-seventh session,
"Clearly, the role and composition of the Security
Council must be reviewed. But we fear that the
discussion might be limited to merely expanding a club
whose members would continue to view their status as
a privilege, not a weighty responsibility. The spirit and
perhaps even the nature of the Council must be
changed. Clearly, we must begin the debate on the
Security Council even if we are still bound by the
terms of Article 108 of the Charter. The
democratization of international relations is necessary."
(A/47/PV.21, p. 87)
It was in this political, economic, social and
international environment that we heard the news on
13 September 1993 that two brothers, who had sprung from
the same land but had until now refused to recognize each
other, had met. Burkina Faso hails their mutual recognition.
It is up to the Palestinian and Israeli leaders and peoples
whether this is the useful and welcome prelude to their
taking a long and complex path, accompanied by the
international community, offering its best wishes and its
good offices.
This hope is like a guttering flame that must be kept
burning; it is the image of our human condition, which we
must constantly watch over. Only together can we succeed
in doing so.