It is a particular pleasure to see
Mr. Gurirab presiding over the last session of the General
Assembly of the twentieth century. I consider myself
singularly fortunate and greatly honoured to be representing
my country, India, on this occasion. I do believe that, in the
many years that he spent here pursuing the dream of
independence for his people — which, happily, is now a
reality — he, more perhaps than others, has seen the United
Nations at its best. That is why the perspective that he
brings to the office of the President, enriched as it is by
living through the very articles of faith of the United
Nations, is near unique. I am sure we will all profit from it.
I take this opportunity also to warmly welcome three
new Members to the United Nations: Kiribati, Nauru and
Tonga. I have no doubt their presence shall enrich our
deliberations.
Even as I address this Assembly, the century draws to
a close and the world prepares to meet the year 2000. It is
only appropriate and instructive, therefore, to look back and
to reflect upon the journey that humanity set out upon 100
years ago. Where did we think we were then headed and
where have we actually reached? Could any then foresee
what 1999 would bring? Thus, are there, in the passage of
the years that have gone by, any landmarks that could
indicate a path for our future? For that, we need to assess
the twentieth century, and there is but one yardstick by
which we can judge: the criteria of the stated objectives
of the United Nations.
Indisputably, the twentieth has been the bloodiest of
all centuries. But, in contradistinction, it has also been a
century of the most profound transformations and of the
most significant social, political and technological
advancements. This, above all, has been the century of
the ascendancy of the individual and of democracy. It is
that period in which dynasties vanished and revolutions
swept empires off the face of ancient lands. Centuries-old
colonialism became history against the irresistible heave
of the colonized to reclaim their lands, their souls, so that
oppressed humanity could regain a voice, a say in its own
political and economic destiny. It is the century in which
we plumbed the depths of the oceans and soared into the
infinities of space; when man first set foot on the moon,
reached Mars and even deeper into the recesses of the
unknown. In a wired-up world, the computer has today
become what the fountain pen was in the early years of
the twentieth century. The revolution of the digital has
arrived.
Humanity today is healthier, better fed and more
sheltered than our forefathers were. But want and hunger,
disease and deprivation are still widespread, including in
developed societies. We have at our command more
information than ever before, but are we that much wiser?
Literacy has spread, but is mankind better educated? We
are more connected globally, but are we as humankind?
Have this linkage and interconnection reduced conflict
and animosity? And thus, the tabulation of our assets and
liabilities of this century flows.
As we have improved upon and added to almost
everything that we inherited in 1900, so most sadly have
we to violence, too. This century has been the most
bloodthirsty, perhaps because it is in these last 100 years
that humanity has employed science to perfect means of
killing as never before. Our passage has seen us move
from the Gatling gun to a world menaced today by
MIRVs. That early machine gun, the then-great mower
down of the early 1900s, seems today almost a toy by
comparison. We have split the atom, but employ the
released energy less for peace and more for weapons of
unimaginable destruction. Chemical defoliants and
sophisticated biological weapons are also this century's
contribution.
The century that passes experienced not two, but
three great wars. Each was a cataclysm, fought globally
and at enormous cost. When the first ended, the survivors
39

emerged from the trenches, searching for a better world so
that war would not recur. In response, we created the
League of Nations. But war, regrettably, was not avoided.
The League failed because we failed the League. And thus
followed the second great war, at the end of which the
world emerged armed with weapons that could destroy all
that human genius and ingenuity had created and every
vestige of life. But, from the ruins and devastation of the
second also emerged the United Nations, with mandates of
broader powers and responsibilities. The third great conflict
was the cold war. This deeply affected, shaped and
influenced the development of the United Nations. This
war, too, extracted a heavy price, directly and through
proxy conflicts, as well as political and social upheavals,
but then these became its epilogue. What significance lies
in the observation that no global peace conference has taken
place to mark the end of this last war?
The United Nations could have been cast anew, made
contemporary and democratized, drawing upon our
collective experience to tackle new challenges with greater
responsiveness. Can we, even now, do something at this
last session of the General Assembly of this millennium to
correct this? Can we pledge afresh to invest this institution
with faith, commitment, political will and the resources that
it needs to make it the vehicle capable of realizing the
aspirations of all humanity, an instrument that will steer
planet Earth into the next century?
We do not enjoy an abundance of options. The
sapping of the vitality or the diminishing of the centrality
of the United Nations must not be permitted. We have but
one Earth, and there is but one United Nations.
Another development of this century, of crucial
significance, is the transformation that we have experienced
in the role of the State. From an agency that controlled and
regulated all spheres of human activity, we move into a
phase wherein the State must become more supportive,
caring and encouraging of the citizen's individual and
collective endeavours; it must release, not contain, the
energies and genius of its people.
It would be an error, however, to assume that the days
of the State are over. The State continues to have a crucial
role and relevance; also, therefore, do national
sovereignties. The United Nations was not conceived as a
super-State. It will not ever become so, principally because
there is no viable substitute for the sovereign State. Even
globalization can work only through State intermediaries.
To diminish, marginalize or ignore the State would also be
bad practice, because the weaker the State is rendered, the
less it shall be able to promote the interests of its citizens.
The State needs to be strengthened functionally, not
weakened. Besides, it is axiomatic that a United Nations
of weak nations can only be a weak United Nations.
Globalization is an idea that has re-emerged, but also
its reverse: fragmentation. The first is politico-economic,
the second entirely political. Let us dwell a bit on this.
Obviously, the technology that is driving this process can
now scarcely be unlearned; the speed of travel and of
communications will only increase; the age of the digital,
as I said, has dawned. However, though globalization may
apparently be driven by impersonal market forces, it is in
reality impelled by power seeking political and financial
advantage. It is, in essence, a political process, and if
history teaches us anything, it is that such processes are
not linear. Simply in terms of economic indicators, the
world was as globalized at the turn of the century as it is
now. A backlash followed: barriers went up, confrontation
replaced cooperation and the world jostled into the
tensions that led to the first great war. Are we, for the
sake of temporary gain, perhaps even unwittingly,
repeating yesterday's mistakes? Political hindsight tells us
that globalization has to be politically directed for
creating equal economic opportunity, both within States
and among States.
In India, we cherish the creative genius of the
people. We believe that Indian excellence lies in the
freedom of the individual. We do not subscribe to
constricting choice through State impositions. But can free
markets offer true freedom of choice to those that are not
even a part of the market? That is why the State
continues to have the responsibility to protect the needy,
to strengthen the weak. That is a part of our democratic
creed, too.
We note that human rights have been made a cross-
cutting theme of the work of the United Nations. That is
important. The flowering, however, of human rights
requires economic development and growth because many
of the deprivations faced by individuals, whether in the
developed or in the developing world, are rooted in
marginalization created by poverty. We believe, therefore,
that development should be the cross-cutting theme of the
United Nations and that the multilateral development
system, which has been one of its successes, must be
strengthened, its focus narrowed to the core challenges of
economic growth with social justice, and it must be given
the resources it requires to respond to the needs of the
developing countries. The international community will
find that no investment yields better returns.
40

I have the honour to address the Assembly as a
representative of the largest democracy in the world. Even
now, as I share these thoughts, an electorate of about 600
million, matching the combined populations of the United
States, Canada and Western Europe, is going through the
exciting process of democratically electing its next
Government in my country. It is an awe-inspiring spectacle,
this unstoppable flow of the great Ganga of Indian
democracy. It is a democracy whose economy grew by
more than 6 per cent last year, even in the aftermath of the
major shocks to the international economy brought about by
what was described as the East Asian meltdown of the mid-
1990s.
We move with the challenges posed by globalization,
without either retreating into a “fortress India” or
abandoning our social objectives. We have worked out our
own answers and devised our own policies to meet these
new challenges because we hold that the sheer diversity of
mankind dictates differences in approach, in human beings'
respective search for relevant alternatives. This is a truth
borne out by the fact that the twentieth century has been
witness to the detritus of many false certainties.
Today, when capital moves without almost any
constraint, it is virtually impossible for developing countries
to resist either its demands or manage the consequences of
its sudden departure. Let us reflect upon the absence of
order, system or any global oversight of currency flows,
particularly short-term flows, even as we attempt to bring
order and equity to trade in goods, services and
commodities. But how are we to address the problem when
currency, instead of being a vehicle of trade, has in itself
become a commodity of trade, when the volume of trade in
currency daily has outstripped global trade in goods and
services or even global gross national product manifold?
If globalization is to benefit all, and as we simply
cannot accept that wheels of progress should grind down
the common man, then surely some new international
regulation, some order, is needed here. Let the United
Nations take the initiative to hold an urgent international
conference on financing for development.
In the political domain, too, managing change
demands openness and reasoned discourse, an essential
ingredient of which is abjuring violence. That is why
terrorism is the very antithesis of all that the United
Nations represents and stands for. Terrorism is the great
global menace of our age. In this age of democracy, it is a
violation of the very basic precepts of it. Because its
principal targets become the innocent, it is a crime against
humanity, a violation of basic human rights. It is also
now a grave threat to international peace and security.
That is why I urge that we strengthen the international
consensus against terrorism. India has called for a
comprehensive international convention against terrorism.
We hope to make progress on the issue in this session of
the General Assembly.
We also know how terrorism uses the international
financial system, how it exploits the breakdown of
countries and societies, and how it has preyed on the
nexus between drugs and the proliferation of small arms.
Thus, today, we witness a scimitar of narco-terrorism
cutting across the Caucasus to the South Asian
subcontinent. Two of the world’s largest sources of illicit
drugs flank us. Terrorism financed by drugs has for years
been the deadly export of our neighbours.
Here the crippling intermixing of cause and effect is
cruelly exemplified in Afghanistan. The world has been
witness to the decades-old distress of the innocent men,
women and children of that country. The disorders of
Afghanistan, and the near anarchy into which that country
has been pushed, are a consequence, chiefly, of the play
of external forces and of a reversion to medieval
fundamentalism of the most obscurantist variety. This
disorder now overspills; it is also exported. It is not that
human rights, particularly of women and children, are
routinely violated there; they simply do not exist.
Our relationships with this neighbour are ancient and
rooted in a past that we share. That is why we urge this
Assembly to be seized of the enormous human suffering
of the Afghans, and to encourage and support the early
formation of a Government truly representative of all
sections of that society and country.
Terrorism is a menace to which open societies are
vulnerable; it becomes particularly difficult for
democracies to counter when terrorists are armed,
financed and backed by Governments or their agencies,
and benefit from the protection of State power. Cross-
border terrorism, sponsored from across our borders, has
taken the lives of thousands of our citizens and ruined
those of countless others. We will counter it, as we have
done over the past decades, using the methods available
to a democracy. India will defeat such forces. That is both
our duty and our obligation to our citizens.
Earlier this year India was subjected, yet again, to an
act of premeditated aggression. In February this year,
hoping yet again to set aside the sterility of relations of
41

the past half century to set the South Asian subcontinent on
the path of development, with a view to addressing the real
adversaries of our region — poverty, want and hunger —
Prime Minister Vajpayee extended a hand of peace, amity
and cooperation to neighbouring Pakistan. The pathbreaking
bus journey from Delhi to Lahore followed. In Lahore we
concluded a triad of agreements, among which was the
Lahore Declaration. It was the route chart of moving
towards lasting amity and peace.
This act of faith was betrayed. Premeditated
aggression by regular forces was committed against India.
Not simply was the Lahore Declaration violated, but so was
the Simla Agreement, which had prevented conflict for
more than a quarter of a century. In self-defence, yet with
the utmost restraint, India took all necessary and
appropriate steps to evict the aggressor forces from its
territory. Most regrettably, this aggression has set back the
Lahore process of peace that we had initiated. For whereas
aggression over territory can more easily be vacated, that
territory of trust which has been transgressed is infinitely
more difficult to restore.
Permit me, Sir, to draw attention to the fact that this
aggression upon India in Kargil was a demonstration of
wanting to hold to ransom the world, through an act of
aggression. It was also a manifestation of the larger
disorders that the world has been witnessing in Afghanistan.
There is an aspect that I stress. It was a gross violation
of the Geneva Conventions when Indian soldiers taken
prisoner were tortured, subjected to inhuman treatment and
killed in captivity. These violations took place at a time
when the international community has repeatedly been
trying to establish the rule of law, stripping away the layers
of impunity that have protected those who give the orders
that lead to violations of international humanitarian law.
And it is thus that I find it necessary to reiterate some
essential verities of Indian nationhood. From the earliest
days of our struggle against imperialism and colonial rule
it has been an unquestionable article of faith with us that
India is one nation: a nation of many faiths, a diversity of
beliefs, a cultural harmony arranged through the interplay
of myriad forms and manifestations, but a unity,
strengthened by its pluralism, that is beyond question. And
of this is born India’s democratic vitality, too. Also of this
oneness and unity, the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir
is an integral part, and shall remain so. Because this is not
any territorial dispute; it is the assertion of two antipodal
approaches to national identity. India has never represented
denominational nationhood; it is civic nationalism to which
we subscribe. That is why Jammu and Kashmir is not a
so-called core issue. It is at the very core of Indian
nationhood.
Yet the path of the India-Pakistan composite
dialogue process is open. No preconditions attend it. The
only essential ingredient that remains is an abjuring of
violence and cross-border terrorism, principles that are
integral to both the Simla Agreement and the Lahore
Declaration — indeed, the very process of peace itself.
This process needs to be resumed.
We have been greatly disappointed by this
compulsive hostility of Pakistan, because it is an
aberration in our region today, where all the other South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
countries are at peace with each other, and are trying,
bilaterally and through the SAARC mechanisms, to tackle
together the great challenge of development. But we
remain unshaken in our vision of cooperation and shared
prosperity of the South Asian region, as embedded in the
Charter of SAARC, as well as in our faith in the ability,
talent and will of the people of the region to take their
rightful place in the world community. The destiny of all
our peoples is linked. It is a region with a collective
history reaching back to the beginnings of human history
and of the highest civilizational accomplishments. In
striving to attain the promise of the future in our region,
we also see the recovery of a great past.
This is perhaps the right juncture at which to say a
few words about pluralism in an age of globalization.
Though we find sterile the debate over universal and
regional values, extreme positions are still taken on both
sides. In a spirit of engagement, we would urge our
partners in the West to be a bit more tolerant, and a bit
more introspective. While all democratic Governments try
to promote good governance, human rights and social
responsibility, the perspective they approach them from,
and their ability to implement them, vary. Rigidly
applying, as a universal paradigm, value systems that
reflect the state of western economies and societies in the
late twentieth century, produces an inevitable reaction,
which does not make either for dialogue or constructive
decisions.
Globalization has also influenced our thinking on
security issues by generating a greater awareness about
new security concerns. Equally important, with the end of
the cold war there is a growing realization that peace
cannot be maintained through balance of power or
hegemonic order. To maintain global peace and security,
42

to deal with threats of a global nature, the international
community has to accept the concept of collective security.
The United Nations provides a framework for such a
contract among nations. With the cold war behind us, the
General Assembly should reactivate this framework.
Global nuclear disarmament was the objective set out
by the 1946 General Assembly in the first resolution that it
adopted. That objective still beckons us.
I say this as the representative of a country that has
been obliged to acquire nuclear weapons because of the
failure of the existing non-proliferation regime to address
our primary security concerns. Yet let me also state with
full conviction that India’s commitment to global nuclear
disarmament stands undiluted. India is the only nuclear-
weapon State ready to negotiate a nuclear weapons
convention that will prohibit for ever the development,
production, stockpiling, use and threat of use of nuclear
weapons and provide for the elimination of all existing
weapons under international verification.
If this can only be a step-by-step process, the first step
at a technical level is for all countries possessing nuclear
weapons to take measures that will reduce the dangers of,
and provide added safeguards against, any unintended or
accidental use. Coupled with this is the political step of
reorienting nuclear doctrines, towards no-first-use, and then
non-use, thus delegitimizing nuclear weapons globally.
Independent expert opinion across the globe has spoken
strongly in favour of such measures. In fact, every single
study that has been published since the end of the cold war
on the measures to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world
has highlighted the need for shifting to doctrines based on
no-first-use and non-use, and technical measures towards
de-alerting, as the inevitable first steps in the process. We
have taken initiatives to urge the international community
forward on both counts, and hope that in this General
Assembly session the Indian initiatives will receive the
unanimous support that they merit.
Last year my Prime Minister declared in this
Assembly that India was engaged in discussions on a range
of issues, including the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty (CTBT). These discussions are in process and will
be resumed by the newly- elected Government of my
country. Our position remains consistent. We remain ready
to bring these discussions to a successful conclusion.
Naturally, this requires the creation of a positive
environment as we work towards creating the widest
possible consensus domestically. We also expect that other
countries will adhere to this Treaty without any conditions.
Notwithstanding India’s readiness to engage in
constructive negotiations on a treaty to prohibit the future
production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons and
nuclear explosive devices, the Conference on
Disarmament in Geneva has so far, sadly, been unable to
register any forward movement. This, too, is something to
ponder over, for we all know that a fissile material cut-off
treaty (FMCT) can only contribute to our shared objective
as part of a step-by-step process. Let us then overcome
this reluctance and agree to look beyond the FMCT.
So, at the end of this centennial audit, what is it that
we would want the United Nations to do in the first few
years? It is clear that there are two major problems facing
the United Nations as an institution: Security Council
reform and the United Nations financial crisis. These need
to be addressed. The Security Council must be made
more representative, with developing countries inducted
as permanent members, to reflect the changes in the
United Nations membership and today’s political realities.
As we said earlier, on any objective criteria, India’s
credentials for permanent membership are persuasive.
Sustainable and environmentally sound development
is a goal to which India continues to attach the utmost
importance. In 2002 we will complete a decade of
Agenda 21, adopted at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. I
trust that the current session of the General Assembly will
put in place a preparatory process for the “Rio + 10”
review. This will enable the Member States to take stock
of the implementation of the commitments undertaken by
the Member States in Agenda 21 over the past decade.
Such a process is vital for attaining our common goal of
sustainable and environmentally sound development.
This century has shown us that our challenges are
common; they are intertwined. Problems flow across
boundaries, they batten on each other. Political, security,
economic and social challenges are braided around each
other; when they form a knot, that has to be cut by all of
us together. Here, and nowhere else, can we do this. It is
convenient to look at security issues in the First
Committee, at economic issues in the Second, at human
rights and social issues in the Third, and so on, but we
often do not see them together, and so fail to use the
United Nations as we should.
May I, in conclusion, therefore, propose that in the
next decade the United Nations endeavour to address the
most urgent problems that face us today. We have to do
this as a unity of nations, as also of issues, for it is
evident that solutions in one field will depend on, or be
43

facilitated by, progress in another. Without tackling them
together we will fail to address them at all. Therefore, may
I urge the Assembly to consider the following areas for
action in the opening years of the next decade: an
international conference on financing for development;
binding, irreversible steps to reduce the dangers of use of
nuclear weapons; reform and expansion of the Security
Council; a comprehensive convention against terrorism; and
strengthening of the United Nations development system in
this era of globalization.
I leave you with a sloka from the Rigveda. Though
written 5,000 years ago, it reaches across time to us as at
this session of the General Assembly, in the last year of the
twentieth century. In translation, it reads,
“Be of one heart, one mind and free of hate.
Let your aim be common, your assembly common,
United your mind and thoughts;
May you make your resolutions with one mind,
Perform your duties righteously.
Let our hearts be together”.


It is my pleasure to
congratulate the President on his election to the
presidency of the fifty-fourth session of the General
Assembly. The Barbados delegation shares the confidence
expressed in his leadership and offers its full cooperation
as he presides over our deliberations.
Let me also warmly commend his predecessor, my
friend and colleague, Mr. Didier Opertti, Foreign Minister
of Uruguay, for his outstanding stewardship of the
Assembly during the last year and for the vision and
direction he gave to the ongoing work of the United
Nations.
We are delighted to welcome to our family of
nations Tonga, Kiribati and Nauru, which are, like
25

Barbados, small island developing States and members of
the Commonwealth and also of the African, Caribbean and
Pacific Group of States. We have long enjoyed good
relations with our sister Pacific islands and wish to assure
the new Member States of our continued friendship and
solidarity.
As we reflect on the twentieth century, we see a
period remarkable for its contradictions. We see, on the one
hand, astounding developments in many fields of human
endeavour and, on the other, national and international
conflicts, resulting in mass destruction of human life and
infrastructure as well as the almost irreversible
compromising of the ecological system. It is evident that if
as nations we refuse to use our accumulated knowledge and
experience, these contradictions will be carried well into the
twenty-first century, making it even more difficult for us to
face and overcome the challenges that lie ahead.
One of the most serious of these challenges is that of
the concept of globalization. The proponents of this
ideology, which embraces trade liberalization and global
governance, wish us to believe that it is a natural and
logical development in international relations. It is not. In
many of its important aspects it is an imposition. One has
only to examine the bases of the clamour for trade
liberalization to become aware of this.
Trade liberalization assumes that small States compete
with larger, stronger, more experienced countries on the
same terms, or become mere satellites in a neo-colonial
sphere. No nation, large or small, would willingly accept a
satellite role. The international community must therefore
come to recognize that within the context of trade
liberalization free trade must import fair trade: trade in
goods and services that have been produced and supplied
under conditions respectful of the rights and dignity of the
labour force; respectful of the preservation of the
environment, and guaranteeing fair prices that provide
returns to the supplier.
Barbados and the Caribbean are confronting serious
challenges in the effort to remain viable economies as
traditional systems of cooperation between individual States
and groups of nations are supplanted by the modern
concepts of supranational interests and of globalization. To
fully grasp the enormity of the adjustment process now
facing Caribbean economies one must first appreciate that
the Caribbean is perhaps the region which under the
original post-colonial regime enjoyed the highest level of
trade preferences with Europe.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has evolved
as the dominant forum for the reform of the world trading
system, but it is now evident that more democratic,
participatory and transparent systems are needed to
protect the interests of the smaller and more vulnerable
members of that Organization. For surely the WTO
cannot be meant to operate as a weapon of oppression in
a new millennium. Surely it cannot be acceptable in a just
world that the new trade ethic should derive solely from
the rigid application of technical rules.
Our new system is clearly seriously flawed when a
dispute between two powerful transatlantic partners can
be settled in a political vacuum which totally ignores the
very real and disastrous consequences it will inevitably
unleash on the economies of a fragile group of small
States. This is certainly not globalization with a human
face.
And so it must be appreciated that the
interdependence associated with globalization is a
two-sided coin. Just as it is claimed that the benefits of
free trade will be enjoyed by all, so too will we all suffer
from the repercussions of failed economies, unable to
cope with the impact of global trade liberalization.
In the Caribbean region, we are haunted by the
prospect of failed societies. Prime Minister Arthur of
Barbados is particularly concerned, and has repeatedly
warned of this possibility. Recently he made the following
observation:
“The economic decay in some economies has
been so severe and corrosive as to set in train social
and political disorder which, unchecked, will create
a new Caribbean species of failed society'.”
Indeed, we have already seen how the dislocation of some
States, whether large, or small and marginalized, can
impact negatively on the world's most developed
economies. When the global system economically
disenfranchises large numbers of the world's population,
we should not be surprised that their hopeless
circumstances might propel them towards the underworld
of transnational crime.
The unique nature and scope of vulnerabilities of
small economies cannot be disputed. Barbados strongly
reiterates the call for the recognition and adoption of
vulnerability indices to assist in determining access to
development financing.
26

The United Nations has a critical role to play as the
defender of the right of all States, regardless of size or
influence, to voice their concerns. As a forum for
constructive consensus-building in an atmosphere of free
and open dialogue the United Nations is even more relevant
in an era characterized by complex negotiations and
supranational interests dominated by a powerful few.
As a community of nations we have one common
factor that unquestionably unites us all. We share one
Earth. The need to sustain the Earth's oceans, seas and the
environment in general is undeniable. Indeed, this
represents one of the greatest challenges to globalization.
As a small island developing State, Barbados has nurtured
a strong commitment to the implementation of practices
that seek to ensure sustainable development in all aspects
of our lives.
The dedication of Barbados to the promotion of global
sustainable development has been affirmed by our active
participation in numerous international negotiations devoted
to these issues. It is also demonstrated by our vigorous
efforts to foster a shared vision to reverse the conventional
wisdom of the past, which sacrificed environmental
concerns in blind pursuit of that other ideology of economic
growth. That shared vision will be as relevant in the new
century as it was when the international community
assembled in Barbados in 1994 for the first United Nations
Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of
Small Island Developing States.
Barbados is proud, as is the entire region, of the
progress made by the small island developing States in
fulfilling their commitments under the Barbados Programme
of Action. At the national level, our Government has
successfully forged greater links with civil society,
including the private sector and labour, in the preparation
of our environmental policies and action plans.
The just-concluded special session to review and
appraise the Barbados Programme of Action drew attention
once more to the serious way in which the small island
developing States have accepted their responsibility to
integrate sustainable development practices into all aspects
of their economic and social activity. We trust that the
outcomes of this review will be fully implemented by the
international community.
The Caribbean Basin States will shortly be addressing
in this forum their interest in working towards the
international designation of the Caribbean Sea as a special
area in the context of sustainable development. While we
acknowledge that there is work still to be done to fully
develop and implement this concept, we are also firmly
convinced of the validity of our efforts, which we believe
will ultimately lead to an integrated approach to the
sustainable management of the Caribbean Sea and to the
protection of its resources.
Significant progress has been achieved over the last
decade to bring peace and stability to the hemisphere of
the Americas. Barbados subscribes to the philosophy of
inclusion and constructive engagement and strongly
believes that these must be our guiding principles as we
strive to banish the last vestiges of the cold war from our
region. Like other countries of the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM), we have developed a productive and
cooperative relationship with our neighbour Cuba. We are
convinced that Cuba has a significant role to play in our
region, and we view its reintegration into hemispheric
affairs as an urgent necessity. The continuation of the
unilateral economic embargo against Cuba runs contrary
to that spirit and is out of tune with the significant efforts
of engagement being practiced by the remaining
Governments of this hemisphere. We urge the suspension
of this anachronistic measure.
The world still awaits the peace that was promised
when the Charter of the United Nations was adopted, and
that was confidently reproclaimed at the end of the cold
war. As a small democratic State, Barbados is ever-
conscious of the peaceful climate which it has enjoyed
since independence, in 1966. The political stability of
Barbados and the Caribbean region, which has facilitated
and fostered economic and political development, must
never be taken for granted. It is a therefore a source of
great distress to all peace-loving people that despite all
the wonderful technological and scientific advances we
have made over the centuries of this millennium, we are
entering into the third millennium still carrying the
baggage of ancient ethnic and tribal conflicts and of
nationalistic rivalries. Today, crises that threaten the very
existence of some States remain of deep concern to the
international community.
Barbados shares the profound anguish and suffering
of the people of Kosovo and was appalled by the barbaric
slaughter and the massive displacement of innocent
people and the destabilizing effect this has had on
neighbouring States. We support the role that the
peacekeeping forces are playing in restoring order to
Kosovo and providing the conditions for the return of the
displaced population to their homes.
27

We wish to reiterate, together with the members of the
Caribbean Community, that military intervention should be
authorized by the United Nations Security Council. As a
small, defenceless State, we are uncomfortable with the
notion that intervention can take place without the prior
authorization of the United Nations Security Council.
We welcome the restoration of democracy and the
return of civilian government to Nigeria and look forward
to its renewed participation in the forthcoming
Commonwealth Heads of Government conference.
We hope that concerted action will continue among
the parties involved to implement the Lomé Agreement and
to bring a final peace to the suffering people of Sierra
Leone.
We are also heartened by the decision to mobilize a
United Nations peacekeeping force into East Timor to end
the abominable infringement of the basic human and civil
rights of the people of that country. It is intolerable that in
this so-called civilized age people can still find themselves
persecuted and terrorized because they vote according to
their conscience and in keeping with their vision of their
own future.
We are following what is taking place in the Middle
East and hope that the conditions now exist to resolve all
outstanding issues and so bring about a lasting peace
throughout that region.
The multifaceted areas of the sustainable development
process demand a holistic approach. No longer can we
service only the economy, the agricultural sector or any one
sector at the expense of others. The value of building strong
social institutions becomes more relevant when placed
against the backdrop of globalization and its effects.
Mechanisms must be put in place to ensure that social
rights are safeguarded.
Barbados places strong emphasis on social
development. We are convinced that more needs to be done
at the international level to ensure that this emphasis is
maintained. It must be understood that economic
development cannot be sustained unless a framework for
overall development is in place. The alleviation of poverty
and the promotion of gender equality, democracy and the
rights of the child are issues that must be simultaneously
addressed.
The first World Summit for Social Development,
which was held in 1995, gave an international focus to
issues such as poverty eradication, full employment,
social integration, gender equality and universal access to
education. Barbados remains committed to the
maintenance of a sustainable economic, political and
social environment that will enable its citizens to achieve
advanced social development. In furtherance of this
objective, the Government of Barbados has created a
Ministry of Social Transformation that will be the main
focal point for all social and welfare services, with
emphasis on poverty alleviation — indeed, eradication —
and support for the disadvantaged and the disabled.
At the international level, Barbados welcomes and
supports the special session that will take place during the
next year. This will provide an opportunity to review the
actions that have been taken to give effect to the
decisions adopted at the World Summit for Social
Development. It is anticipated that this special session
will lead to a renewal of international commitment to
fulfil the objectives of the 1995 Copenhagen Summit. The
matter takes on greater urgency when it is realized that,
four years after the United Nations Summit, international
and economic crises have led to a reversal of the gains
made in social development.
One of the main deterrents to sustainable
development remains the illicit traffic in narcotics, which
is a major concern to the Governments of the Americas.
This transnational phenomenon is one of the more adverse
consequences of globalization, which has brought in its
wake the associated evils of money laundering, arms
trafficking and violent crime. Geography places the
Caribbean in the direct path of this phenomenon as a
transit point of illegal drugs. It must be borne in mind
that the illegal drug trade undermines democracy and can
eventually lead to the destruction of the nation-State. This
circumstance has compelled the Caribbean countries to
give the highest priority to the development of
cooperative efforts at drug interdiction, demand-reduction
and the containment of transnational crime.
Barbados currently serves as a focal point in these
regional efforts, which enjoy the support of the European
Union, the United States of America, Canada and the
United Nations International Drug Control Programme.
We will continue to play an active role in support of all
coordinated efforts at the regional and international levels
to combat the narco-trafficking threat and the dangers
posed to the security of the small States of the Caribbean.
28

Barbados is firmly committed to the United Nations
Organization. We have supported all constructive efforts at
reform, but we insist that the Organization can remain
viable only if all Members scrupulously honour their
financial commitments. We also believe that a healthy
balance must be maintained between the United Nations
peacekeeping focus and its developmental mandate. In this
regard, we continue to be concerned at the declining
funding available to the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and other United Nations agencies,
resulting in a diminished capacity on their part to carry out
their important mandate. We reiterate the importance of the
work of these agencies in support of the national efforts of
developing countries to achieve economic and social
progress.
We very much value the work of UNDP and of the
United Nations system as a whole. As a net contributing
country, Barbados is eager to enter into a new partnership
with UNDP that can make a significant contribution to our
efforts to achieve the next critical phase of our
development, the transition to a globalized economy.
In appreciation of the United Nations contribution
over the years, the Government of Barbados has agreed
to construct a permanent home for all United Nations
offices located in Bridgetown and servicing the Eastern
Caribbean. To this end, we expect to commence shortly
the construction of the United Nations common premises
in Bridgetown.
The new millennium brings with it a sense of giddy
expectation, a passion for renewal and the tendency to
believe that things will miraculously change for the better
overnight. We must not delude ourselves into thinking
that the fifty-fifth, the fifty-sixth or even the sixtieth
session of the General Assembly will take place in an
environment any less complex and challenging than our
gathering here today. What we do know is that we may
not be expected to complete the task, but then, neither are
we at liberty to abstain from it.


I am honoured to address the
General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session as a
representative of His Majesty the King of Swaziland. I
bring with me from the Kingdom of Swaziland warmest
greetings and best wishes to all our fellow members from
His Majesty King Mswati III, Her Majesty the Indlovukazi,
the Government and the whole Swazi nation.
The Kingdom of Swaziland congratulates you, Sir, on
your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at
this session. We are especially proud that a fellow southern
African has been elected to this demanding position, and
we are confident that your diplomatic skills and experience
will help you guide and lead this Assembly towards the
successful conclusion of its deliberations.
We should also like to commend the skilful leadership
of the fifty-third session by your predecessor Mr. Didier
Opertti.
We are meeting at a time of great challenges for the
United Nations. The membership is faced with a number of
issues concerning the very shape of our Organization and
the scope of operations that we choose to undertake. The
Kingdom of Swaziland believes that we are fortunate
indeed to have at this time a Secretary-General who
commands such universal respect and who possesses the
qualities of determination, enthusiasm and leadership that
are so necessary as we chart our course for the future. We
call on him and on the staff of the United Nations to keep
up their good work in the service of all Member States.
The Kingdom of Swaziland believes that the
Secretary-General and his staff can best be supported by
our continuing commitment to meeting our financial
obligations in full and on time. We call on all our fellow
Members to comply by honouring their obligations so that
our Organization can have sufficient resources with which
to cope with the widening scope of its operations and to
meet the expectations of us all.
The Kingdom of Swaziland is delighted to extend a
warm welcome to our Organization’s three new Members:
the nation States of Tonga, Nauru and Kiribati. Their
admission is further confirmation of our respect for the
principles of universality and representation, as contained
in the founding Charter of the United Nations.
But even as we welcome these new Members, the
Kingdom of Swaziland is conscious that the principle of
universality is not applied equally to others who feel
excluded from the activities of our Organization. I refer
to the 22 million people of the Republic of China on
Taiwan, who believe that they are being denied their right

to representation in the United Nations. The Government
and the people of the Republic of China on Taiwan have
shown their willingness and capacity to contribute actively
to global development and peace, through disaster relief and
development support to many countries and regions. The
Republic of China on Taiwan is clearly a peace-loving
nation, and is highly developed in all economic, social and
political spheres.
It is the view of the Kingdom of Swaziland that
international peace and security and equitable development
for all mankind, can be achieved only through the inclusion
of all the people of the world in the one truly global
development Organization. We therefore support the call
from an increasing number of Member States for the
establishment of a working group by the General Assembly
to examine the exceptional international situation relating to
the Republic of China on Taiwan and to ensure that the
fundamental right of its 22 million people to participate in
the work and activities of the United Nations is fully
respected. We recognize that, as has been the case in some
other nations, the matter of reunification is for the Chinese
people themselves.
The history of the twentieth century will have further
evidence to support the belief that man apparently and
surprisingly cannot live peacefully side by side with his
neighbour, nor in harmony with nature and his environment.
Despite the many remarkable achievements of the last 99
years, notably in the collapse of ideological and political
colonialism and in the fields of technology, science and
medicine, it will be, in the end, by world wars,
environmental degradation and the emergence of global
epidemics that this century will be remembered.
The Kingdom of Swaziland believes that the
promotion of sustainable international peace and security
must be the main priority for the United Nations, because
it is clear that our collective aim of raising the living
standards of our peoples is possible only in conditions of
global stability and with nations living in harmony
alongside one another.
It has long been recognized that the greatest threat to
global peace lies in the continuing spread of weapons of
mass destruction. Our failure so far as an Organization to
have true commitment from all Members to arms control
and nuclear disarmament has meant that we enter the next
millennium with this threat still overshadowing all matters
of international relations.
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty are designed as essential first steps towards a
world free from the danger that such weapons pose. We
clearly need to find a way to strengthen the
non-proliferation regime, and also to prevent the flow of
conventional weapons and anti-personnel landmines into
zones of conflict.
The Kingdom of Swaziland therefore calls upon the
Conference on Disarmament to implement the proposal of
the Non-Aligned Movement by establishing as its highest
priority an ad hoc committee to begin negotiations on a
programme for the complete elimination of nuclear
weapons, within a time-bound framework. We also urge
those States with nuclear weapons to implement faithfully
both the letter and spirit of all agreements relating to the
non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear
disarmament.
Whilst the possibilities of global conflict have
diminished since the end of the cold-war era, it is a fact
that there has been a corresponding increase in the
incidence of internal conflicts and cross-border
disturbances arising from a variety of causes, including
ethnic and religious confrontation. The Kingdom of
Swaziland believes that the emphasis of the United
Nations in dealing with this increase of internal and
cross-border crises should be on the introduction of an
effective mechanism of preventive diplomacy to stop
incidents from escalating out of control. This has been the
focus of regional organizations of which the Kingdom of
Swaziland is a member, such as the Common Market for
Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) and the
Organization of African Unity (OAU). We believe that,
while recognizing the overall responsibility of the United
Nations towards global peace, the regional organizations
must take the lead as the building blocks towards stability
and closer cooperation.
The past year in international affairs has been a mix
of progress in some areas of past conflict and the
continuation or emergence of crises in many others. The
United Nations has quite correctly become involved in
trying to help resolve each of these situations, to a greater
or lesser degree, and the Kingdom of Swaziland
commends its efforts and those of all who have played a
similar role.
The Kingdom of Swaziland recognizes the recent
progress made by Israelis and Palestinians towards the
2

implementation of the Wye River peace accord. This has
been a most encouraging step towards lasting peace in the
Middle East region and we applaud the courage and
commitment of the leadership of both sides towards
achieving this aim.
The crisis in the former Yugoslavia earlier this year
gave us cause for great concern, especially in the light of
the threat of the conflict’s spreading to other Balkan States.
We pray that the recent return to relative stability will lead
to lasting peace in that troubled region and that the wishes
of the people for their future will be the guiding principle
in any long-term dispensation.
We have viewed with concern the events in East
Timor following the referendum on independence and we
fully support the decision of the United Nations to accede
to the request of the Indonesian Government for the urgent
deployment of a peacekeeping force. We appeal to all
involved to restore calm to the situation and to respect the
wishes of the people of East Timor for their future.
We have watched with equal concern the apparent
setback in the peace process in Northern Ireland. We
support the efforts of the British and Irish Governments to
create the right conditions of trust and confidence, in which
the people of Northern Ireland can decide their future for
themselves. We urge all parties involved to exercise
restraint and to rediscover the spirit of compromise and
reconciliation that characterized the original Good Friday
Agreement.
Closer to home, on our own continent of Africa, the
past year has given cause for some optimism in a number
of areas; but in others, the tale is all too depressingly
familiar.
We welcome with great relief the signing of the Peace
Agreement between the warring factions in Sierra Leone
and we appeal to both sides to abide by the terms of the
settlement so that their people may benefit from the
dividend of peace after so many years of suffering and lack
of development.
The continuing border dispute between Ethiopia and
Eritrea has unsettled all in the Horn of Africa and we
applaud the decision of both countries to agree to mediation
efforts between them by the United Nations and the OAU.
We pray that this sensible move may lead to a peaceful
settlement of the crisis.
The recent signing of an Agreement by all parties to
the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has
encouraged all of us in the region. We hope that there
will be commitment by all signatories to the terms of the
ceasefire and that a lasting solution may be found that
will allow the Congolese people to develop their great
potential in peace. This last success is all the more
encouraging for those of us in the SADC region, since it
came about through the combined efforts of a number of
SADC member States. In a similar vein, heightened
tension between two of our members, Angola and
Zambia, was able to be defused before the situation could
escalate into a crisis.
Both of these situations point to the acceptance of
responsibility by our member States for resolving regional
difficulties ourselves. Of course, this does not preclude
our welcome to the willingness of others, such as the
OAU, the United Nations and individual countries that
wish to be involved, especially in the provision of training
and material and financial support. But we firmly believe
in the principle that African problems require african
solutions and we are determined to come up with the
means and mechanisms to abide by it.
On the negative side, the continent has seen the
continuation of two crises that are having an especially
damaging effect on the lives of the people involved and
that we believe require the urgent attention of the United
Nations.
The first concerns the deteriorating situation in
Angola, where peace remains as elusive as ever. We call
on the leadership of UNITA to respect the terms of the
Lusaka Protocol and to recognize the need to use it as the
starting point in the search for lasting peace and national
healing. We appeal to the international community to
continue to support the efforts of SADC and all of us
who are involved in the quest for an end to the suffering
of the Angolan people.
The situation is Somalia, while possessing different
characteristics, has the same distressing effect on the
people of that unfortunate country. The fact is that the
division and lack of any legitimate central authority in
their country has deprived Somalis not only of peace and
the chance for development, but also of a voice of appeal
in regional and international forums.
The time has surely come for the United Nations to
show real commitment to finding a solution to the
Somalia crisis, in the same way that we are expending a
3

great deal of effort and resources in crisis situations in
other parts of the world. The Somali people deserve the
same concern and respect for their future from the rest of
the world as those in countries with perhaps greater global
recognition and resources.
The complex challenges facing the world today lend
greater significance and urgency to the initiatives for reform
of our Organization. The Kingdom of Swaziland believes
that these reforms are essential if the United Nations is to
retain the global credibility and authority that are so
necessary in its operations.
Recent history has shown clearly that the traditional
mechanisms for harmonizing global relations and conflict
resolution, in particular, are no longer effective, and the
United Nations is in real danger of losing the confidence of
its Members in these areas.
Our aim must be to transform our Organization into a
structure that is truly representative of all our Members and
that is transparent and efficient in its operations, while
remaining consistent to the purposes and principles of our
founding Charter.
We believe that the priority should be to achieve
balanced representation in the principal organs of the
United Nations. The Security Council, as a particular
example, requires reform in order to strengthen its
legitimacy. Its composition must reflect the plurality and
diversity of the membership of the United Nations, with
due regard for the profound geopolitical changes in recent
history.
The Kingdom of Swaziland reaffirms its full support
for the African position on reform of the Security Council,
namely, two permanent seats for Africa to be shared on a
rotational basis, as well as three non-permanent seats, and
a re-examination of the exercise of veto power.
It is a fact that the majority of Member States concur
with this need for reform of the Security Council and that
all agree on the urgency attached to the matter. Yet there
has been very little progress made so far by the
Open-ended Working Group established to address this vital
issue. We are concerned at this lack of progress and would
urge the Working Group to overcome whatever obstacles
remain to a resolution that meets Members’ demands for
fairness and urgency.
Turning now to the question of the Millennium
Assembly, to be convened next year, the Kingdom of
Swaziland is encouraged by the emerging consensus
among Member States on the need to articulate a vision
for the international community in the year 2000.
We support the Secretary-General’s theme of the
United Nations in the twenty-first century and the
proposed sub-topics for the Millennium Assembly. Of
these, we believe the closely related sub-topics of peace
and security, on the one hand, and development and
poverty eradication, on the other, to be of the highest
priority in the context of the overall theme.
Future global stability depends on the ability of
national Governments to increase the momentum for
economic development and their capacity to improve the
delivery of job creation and essential social services, such
as health and education.
We believe that poverty eradication can be achieved
only through the promotion of an accelerated pace of
growth and development in the developing countries.
There can be no doubt that, to achieve this aim, we need
the support of the rest of the international community,
and this support can best be coordinated by the United
Nations.
One key factor in the achievement of our aim of
poverty eradication is the concept of the globalization and
liberalization of the global economy. The conclusion of
the Uruguay Round, on the one hand, promised to open
up enormous trade opportunities in the sale and
movement of goods and services, but on the other it
threatened the fragile economies of those countries that
had not achieved the state of preparation to take full
advantage.
The continent of Africa, in particular, continues to
face a multitude of problems as we struggle to settle into
the new world order. Many of us are undertaking painful
reforms of existing structures in order to respond to the
demands of globalization and liberalization. The
implementation of structural adjustment programmes,
often on the instructions of the Bretton Woods
institutions, is having a severely adverse impact on the
social welfare of many African countries, with devastating
effects on the quality of life of our people. We can see
the result of these effects in many countries, where a
decrease in expenditure on social programmes has led to
heightened internal tension and instability.
Clearly, globalization and liberalization as concepts
have much to recommend them. Undoubtedly, they hold
4

the key to an economic future of equal opportunity for all
countries. But we are saying that they need to take into
account the unequal starting points of each country: that
some are better prepared than others to take full advantage
of the opportunities they offer and that many of us may
well lose any hope of catching up. We are seeing the very
sovereignty of countries being eroded by the power of
multinational companies. True economic power is being
held in fewer and fewer hands, and the developing
countries are becoming further marginalized. Social
problems increase as people lose jobs and capital and
currency values are controlled elsewhere.
The developing countries cannot wish away
globalization, but we would wish it to adopt a more human
face, one that recognizes and makes allowances for the
fundamental inequalities between the richer and the poorer
nations of the world and makes concessions to allow us the
opportunity to take full advantage of its opportunities in due
course.
For our part in the Kingdom of Swaziland, we are
aggressively pursuing political, economic, social and
institutional reforms that will have a major impact on all
aspects of national life, in accordance with the wishes and
expectations of the Swazi people themselves.
This year, we launched the national development
strategy, a people-driven vision for the long term, providing
a planning framework for government action priorities for
the next 25 years. The core aim of the strategy is to achieve
a sustainable increase in the standard of living of all
Swazis, with particular emphasis on eliminating poverty
from our society. Our priority is to create the conditions for
a vibrant economy and to increase our capacity to provide
our people with a high level of human development.
This long-term blueprint has been used as the basis for
two short- and medium-term programmes of action by the
Government that are linked to timetables and are fully
accountable for results.
The economic and social reform agenda is a
performance management tool that identifies priority actions
and keeps government performance under close, public
scrutiny and the public sector management programme
designed to improve service delivery and cost-effectiveness
in the public sector. We believe that these initiatives, with
the wishes of the people at their heart, will provide us with
the right conditions in which to prosper and to achieve our
human development objectives.
We have very much appreciated the support of the
United Nations in formulating the strategy. The national
development strategy should, from now on, form the
priority target for all development support from United
Nations agencies. We would wish the same from the
international development finance institutions. We share
the concern of many fellow Member States in the
developing world that too often these institutions’ target
for support is not in tune with the wishes of the country
involved and that the process of project design and
approval is painfully slow. We look forward to working
with the United Nations Development Programme and the
international finance institutions to design projects that
coincide with the wishes of our own people, and within
a time-frame that meets our expectations of speedy
implementation.
In 1996, the Kingdom of Swaziland embarked on a
review of its Constitution with the establishment of a
commission that was tasked with collecting the views of
all Swazis on all aspects of the present Constitution. We
have kept the General Assembly fully informed on the
progress of this commission each year, and I am delighted
to report that the people’s recommendations on the
Constitution will be presented to the nation at the end of
this year. The process will then move forward to the
drafting of these recommendations into a formal
document that will be confirmed by the people
themselves, before final ratification.
Throughout the process of constitutional review, we
have been guided by the principle of involving all Swazis
in the drafting of what will be the Kingdom’s defining
document. Consultation with our people on all important
matters is a principle that we have followed throughout
our history, and is one that has helped us to maintain the
peace and stability with which we have always been
blessed.
I have spoken at length about the efforts we in the
Kingdom of Swaziland are making to improve the lives
of our people. And yet, all our plans and all our good
intentions are meaningless in the face of the danger that
threatens to overwhelm our nation. I am referring, of
course, to the HIV/AIDS crisis, which is already having
a severe impact on the lives of many Swazi families and
which undermines all our hopes for a future of prosperity
and security for all our people. We are facing up to the
fact that the Kingdom of Swaziland has one of the highest
rates of HIV infection in the world, and our hospitals and
clinics are stretched to the limit of capacity as a result.
We are making every effort to halt the spread of the
5

deadly disease. But it is an uphill struggle and involves us
in bringing about a wholesale change in attitude and moral
behaviour.
Our chief concern is to promote awareness of the
danger and of the preventive measures available. Our
resources are limited, and we need the continuing support
of the international community in our efforts to reverse the
downward trend. This appeal was repeatedly made at the
recent Eleventh International Conference on AIDS and
STDs in Africa held in Lusaka. We therefore join other
Member States in a similar predicament in appealing to the
United Nations to coordinate an international response to
the crisis. The very future of our nation, and that of many
others, depends on those with the technical and financial
resources joining forces with us to stem the deadly tide.
In conclusion, I should like to take this opportunity to
express the deep gratitude of Their Majesties, the
Government and the whole Swazi nation, to the United
Nations Development Programme and all its sister agencies,
for the many programmes of assistance undertaken in the
Kingdom of Swaziland since our independence.
We believe that the United Nations, as the one truly
global development Organization, remains the only hope for
overcoming the many complex challenges facing the world
today. Despite the setbacks and obstacles to achieving our
collective aims, there can be no doubt that the world would
be a more troubled place without the combined efforts of
all of us here.
The Kingdom of Swaziland therefore takes great pride
in reaffirming its commitment to the principles and ideals
contained in the United Nations Charter, and we ask
Almighty God to watch over and guide us in the
challenging times ahead for our Organization.


Let me begin,
Sir, by congratulating you on your election to the
presidency of the General Assembly, and to voice my full
confidence that the work of this session, under your
leadership, will be crowned with success. I wish also to
express my great appreciation of the way in which your
predecessor, Mr. Didier Opertti, guided the work of the
fifty-third session.
I take this opportunity also to welcome the Republic
of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of
Tonga to the great United Nations family, and to convey to
them our best wishes for the future.
I am pleased to say that this year has been marked
by genuinely positive developments for Albania in the
political, social and economic spheres. Albania has made
progress in strengthening its democratic institutions and
its civil society, in achieving respect for human rights and
freedoms, and in enhancing public order and the rule of
law.
As a new democracy, Albania is tireless in its efforts
to strengthen and consolidate its institutional structures.
There has been tangible progress in bringing about the
independence of the legislative, executive and judicial
branches. At the same time, efforts to coordinate them are
moving forward without in any way affecting their
separate identities.
The Albanian State and Government have given
priority to economic development by promoting free
initiative in the privatization process, principally in
strategically important sectors. We have also made a
continuous effort to formulate and implement modern
legislation that can encourage and support domestic
investment and can channel foreign investment into
especially profitable vital sectors of our economy.
We have every reason to appreciate the beneficial
cooperation between Albania and the World Bank, which
has resulted in the implementation of projects of great
importance to the Albanian economy, and also in their
effective management. We are grateful too for the support
of the International Monetary Fund, whose activities have
made a great contribution to revitalizing my country's finances.

We are well aware that no State can have a healthy
economy or a solid democracy without secure public order,
the rule of law and a strong civil society. Among the
thorniest problems now facing Albanian society and
especially the Albanian State are neutralizing both common
and organized crime and putting an end to corruption in
certain sectors. Great efforts and substantial resources have
been deployed in this area to increase the effectiveness of
the police and other administrative structures engaged in
crime-fighting. I take this opportunity to express my great
appreciation for the assistance provided by the
Multinational Advisory Police Element of the Western
European Union and by a number of individual States, in
particular for the restructuring and training of the Albanian
police and for the provision of logistical equipment.
At the same time, I would like to say that the
Government of Albania, and I myself, attach great
importance to the direct commitment of the United Nations
to the process of disarming the civilian population. I would
like to take this occasion to congratulate Mr. Dhanapala on
his last visit to Albania.
Considering corruption to be an extreme evil and a
serious obstacle to the development of a healthy democracy,
the Albanian Parliament and Government have adopted
tough legislative and administrative measures to deal with
it, establishing specific structures to better uncover and
punish abuse of power in certain corrupt sectors of the
administration and the judiciary.
During previous sessions, Albania has stated — and
we still hold — that the main objective of our strategy is
integration into the Euro-Atlantic structures and into other
global and regional organizations. Our clear objective is to
join the European Union, which we do not doubt for a
moment can be achieved, so the Albanian Government
considers as a fundamental priority raising the level of its
relations with the European Union. I am glad to say that
there has been a qualitative improvement in those relations.
Cooperation has been intensified in various fields, which
bodes well for the signing of an association agreement
fairly soon.
There have also been positive developments in our
rapprochement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO), following the modernization of the Albanian
army, and above all thanks to the unreserved help provided
to the NATO forces during the Kosovo conflict.
I am also happy to note that my country's efforts over
many years to become a member of the World Trade
Organization seem to be about to be crowned with
success.
The work of the current session is taking place while
Kosovo and the entire region are making efforts to heal
the wounds inflicted by the Milosevic regime. The
concerns expressed by the Albanian delegation at the
fifty-third session with regard to the policy of “ethnic
cleansing”, which went as far as genocide, perpetrated by
the Belgrade regime against the Albanian population of
Kosovo, proved well-founded. In the framework of this
chauvinistic policy, the most barbarous crimes were
committed: tens of thousands of Albanians were
massacred, thousands of houses were destroyed or set on
fire, and more than half the population were expelled
from their land and had to go to neighbouring countries,
particularly Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro.
Thousands of other people went into the mountains and
lived in unimaginable conditions in order to escape
certain death. The massacres at Raçak, Peja, Rahovec and
Malishevo, the daily discovery of mass graves containing
children, women, young people and old men and women,
killed by the Serb army, militias and policemen, will
continue to testify to a genocide without precedent on the
threshold of the new millennium.
It is with horror that I condemn the execution of
dozens of eminent Kosovar intellectuals and the
imprisonment of hundreds of others.
The Milosevic regime ignored the warnings of the
international community and its call for an acceptable
resolution of the Kosovo crisis. It arrogantly rejected the
proposals formulated in the Rambouillet agreement by the
Contact Group and increased the repression of the
Albanians in Kosovo, thus endangering peace and security
in the Balkans. In these circumstances, the NATO
countries, legitimately defending the sacred principles of
the United Nations Charter, had to intervene militarily in
order to force Belgrade to withdraw its armed forces from
Kosovo.
We congratulate the international community on
having shown on this occasion unlike the similar situation
in Bosnia, a firm will to condemn the crimes perpetuated
against a defenceless population, take effective measures
to put an end to those crimes and establish peace in the
troubled region of the Balkans.
The whole Albanian nation has expressed its
profound gratitude to NATO, the United States of
America, the United Nations, the Organization for
2

Security and Cooperation in Europe, and all the
international forces which contributed to ending the
humanitarian disaster in Kosovo and re-establishing peace
there. In particular, I pay tribute to the action and the
personal commitment of Mr. Kofi Annan, the Secretary-
General of the United Nations, in the settlement of this
conflict and the ending of the humanitarian crisis.
I also pay special tribute to the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for its commitment to
public exposure of the crimes against the Albanian people
of Kosovo and for becoming an interpreter for the whole
Albanian nation in their just request that all those
responsible for crimes against the innocent population be
put in the dock. I call on all countries, especially those in
our region, to cooperate with the Tribunal, as recommended
in Security Council resolutions.
The Albanian State has done everything to ensure that
the conflict in Kosovo is resolved as soon as possible and
peace is re-established in the Balkans. Engaging in intense
political activity, we have striven to ensure that the political
forces in Kosovo adopt a common attitude and accept the
Rambouillet peace plan. The Albanian State, while
committing itself firmly to defending its territorial integrity
and sovereignty, has refused to respond to provocations by
Serb forces at the border. Albania has not fallen for
Milosevic's manoeuvres designed to extend the conflict in
the region.
Despite our great economic and financial difficulties,
Albania has borne the burden of the humanitarian crisis of
the refugees from Kosovo. Half a million Kosovars
deported from their homes have found shelter among their
brothers in Albania. Albanian families opened their doors
to their blood brothers, thereby earning widespread respect
for their generosity. As I recall this period, I would like to
express our deep gratitude for he invaluable assistance
given us by States and international organizations, both
governmental and non-governmental, especially those
working within the United Nations framework. The United
Nations, implementing Security Council resolution 1244
(1999), is today, in the aftermath of the Kosovo crisis,
playing a decisive role. The new civil administration,
composed of representatives of the entire population of
Kosovo, is almost in place, with the help in particular of
the United Nations, the European Union and the OSCE; it
is working feverishly in the edification, democratization and
strengthening of a multi-ethnic civil society, with respect
for human rights and a framework of institutions imbued by
that respect.
KFOR is carrying out the difficult task of preserving
stability and the fragile peace in the Kosovo region. I take
this opportunity to thank the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General, Mr. Bernard Kouchner, for his efforts
to attain the established objectives. I am confident that the
United Nations and the organizations supporting it will
continue their action so as to eliminate all negative factors
that might compromise a secure and complete peace and
the future of the Kosovo region. We support the efforts of
all the international and Kosovar political forces to ensure
peaceful coexistence between Albanians and the ethnic
minorities in Kosovo. We express our wish and
conviction that these efforts, based on Security Council
resolution 1244 (1999), will be crowned with success.
The end of the conflict in the Kosovo region and the
concern of the international community to transform the
Balkans from the powder keg it has been into a region of
peace and stability have given the countries in our region
a historic opportunity to achieve development, prosperity
and democratization. We have resolved not to miss that
opportunity. First and foremost, our societies must
abandon their archaic chauvinistic mindset, which has
been the sources of division and hatred and which should
no longer outweigh the desire for unity, friendship and
cooperation among peoples.
We must struggle towards and succeed in
quarantining all policies that encourage hatred and ethnic
divisions, because such anachronistic policies have been
the source of human catastrophes and remain one of the
main causes of the destabilization of our region and the
delay in our economic development.
Our countries share common interests in the
strategic, economic and security spheres. In this regard,
we want to become integrated into powerful structures
such as the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO). But it would not be realistic to
think we will easily attain this objective. We fully realize
that we are at the initial stage of this process. Thus we
believe that all the countries of the region should
coordinate their efforts in order to become — all together,
not separately — integrated into those structures.
The Stability Pact on South-Eastern Europe is the
fundamental document for the consolidation of democratic
values, for economic growth and for the strengthening of
security in our region. I take this opportunity to salute the
full support provided to this initiative by the countries of
our region at the Cologne and Sarajevo meetings. The
State and the Government of Albania support all efforts
3

that have been undertaken within the political boundaries of
the former Yugoslavia to promote democracy and the
process of integration in the region. We welcome all
democratic developments in Serbia, the consequence of
which should be to remove from power the political group
responsible for the crimes committed in the former
Yugoslavia and to eliminate the chauvinistic mindset that
encourages war. Such a mindset is no longer acceptable in
civilized Europe.
The Albanian Government is adopting measures with
a view to attaining the objectives of the Stability Pact. The
immediate objectives include various ideas and concrete
proposals aimed at the development of economic relations
with the countries in the region, the creation of inter-Balkan
institutions to monitor respect for human rights and the
strengthening of security measures. The Albanian State
expects that in the near future the Balkans will become a
democratic region with an economy intended to reach the
level of those of the developed countries, a region that
respects human rights, in accordance with advanced
European and global standards. We believe that because of
the damage suffered during the conflicts in the former
Yugoslavia, and particularly in Kosovo, Albania deserves
preferential treatment within the framework of the Stability
Pact.
As far as we are concerned, the free circulation of
people, ideas, capital and goods — a Balkan mini-
Schengen — is the precondition for a rapid development of
the economy, social life and democracy of our region. A
democratic Balkans is unimaginable if our countries build
walls in order to prevent the free circulation of people.
Reciprocal free movement would contribute greatly to
bringing people together and to cultural exchanges and,
thereby, to the elimination of the hatred and inter-ethnic
conflicts that up till now have so cruelly shaken this part of
Europe.
Albania appreciates the role currently being played by
the European Union, the United States of America and
other countries in the framework of these positive
developments. It hopes that this interest in the development
and democratization of the region will persist with the same
level of commitment and the same intensity.
While attaching priority to the problems of our region,
the State and the Government of Albania have been
and continue to remain attentive to developments in other
parts of the world. We welcome the progress in the peace
process in the Middle East and Northern Ireland. For my
part, I would like to express the fervent hope that these
processes prove irreversible.
We appreciate the role played by the United Nations
in organizing the referendum on the future of East Timor.
We hope the most recent agreements and resolutions, with
the international presence, in particular that of the United
Nations, will lead to the stabilization of the situation in
that country as soon as possible.
Given the ever-growing importance of multilateral
international cooperation, Albania intends to become an
ever more active Member of the United Nations and of
other international organizations, in order to be able to
better contribute to safeguarding peace throughout the
world. Albania salutes the efforts of the United Nations
to continue to strengthen its role in resolving the acute
problems facing humanity today in the political, economic
and humanitarian spheres. I take this opportunity to
express my great appreciation for the action of the
Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, aimed at reforming
and reviving the Organization.
In connection with this reform, Albania is in favour
of the democratization and strengthening of the Security
Council so that it better reflects new international realities
and has more transparent procedures and working
methods and a simplified decision-making process. We
support the financial and budgetary reform of the United
Nations, the objective of which is better management of
financial resources and, thus, the increased effectiveness
of United Nations programmes and projects.
Allow me to express once again to you,
Mr. President, and to all the delegations present here my
fervent wish that this session of the Assembly will meet
with success in advancing global peace, stability and
prosperity.


Allow me to congratulate you
most warmly, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of
the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session. My
delegation is confident that with your vast experience you
will steer us through the daunting array of issues before
us with great skill. I assure you of the full cooperation
and support of my delegation.
May I take this opportunity to express our gratitude
to His Excellency Mr. Didier Opertti for his leadership
and for his contribution to the work of the fifty-third
session of the General Assembly.
My delegation takes great pleasure in welcoming the
Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the
Kingdom of Tonga as they assume their rightful positions
in the comity of nations. It is appropriate that, at this final
session of the General Assembly of the twentieth century,
the United Nations family has been expanded by yet
another three Members. We look forward to the valuable
contributions they will make to the Organization, and to
working closely with them on issues of mutual concern.
This century has witnessed perhaps the greatest
changes in the annals of civilization, from enormous
strides in science and technology to advances in social
thought and organization. Yet we continue to witness the
worst forms of devastation arising from conflict and from
the buildup of destructive capacity. The United Nations
was born out of the ashes of the Second World War as a
reflection of the desire and aspiration of all people to live
in peace and harmony. At this, the last session of the
General Assembly before the end of the millennium, it is
incumbent upon us to consider whether the United
Nations has lived up to the high ideals and expectations
of all its Members.
The primary objective and responsibility of the
United Nations is the maintenance of global peace and
harmony on the basis of international law and the
sovereign equality of all nations. Even though the United
Nations moved swiftly to assume this important
responsibility of maintaining peace and security right
from its inception, its effectiveness has not been optimal.
The end of the cold war raised new hopes and
expectations, and renewed efforts to exercise that
responsibility. The task has been complex and difficult,
and, sometimes, decisive action on some issues has led us
to question why there was inaction on others. In our view,
the primary mechanism for the maintenance of peace and
security must make use of early dialogue aimed at
peaceful resolution of differences. The use of force to
resolve conflict must be considered with extreme caution;
it must be fully within the context of international law
and must enjoy the support of all the members of the
international community.
25

The United Nations Charter entrusts responsibility for
the maintenance of international peace and security to the
Security Council. While the Council must have the
flexibility to act promptly, it, or its individual members,
must not operate in isolation. The Council must be
responsible to the international community at large and
must respond to our collective aspirations for a more
representative, relevant and effective Organization.
Bhutan associates itself with the position of the Non-
Aligned Movement, which maintains that new global
realities must be reflected through reform of the Security
Council, in terms of both its composition and its working
methods. The legitimacy of an increased role and voice for
developing countries must find expression in an increased
permanent representation on the Council. We trust that
deliberations on this matter will proceed within the
established framework of General Assembly mechanisms,
with the involvement of all Member States and with
continued transparency.
The threat to international peace and security posed by
the abundance of weapons of mass destruction as well as
conventional arms has not diminished. Progress on nuclear
disarmament can take place only if the legitimate security
concerns of all countries are addressed and if there is a firm
commitment to the eventual elimination of all such
weapons. Equal attention, we believe, must be given also to
the regulation of global trade in conventional weapons and
small arms.
Terrorism continues to jeopardize and undermine
human rights, fundamental freedoms and security in a
growing number of countries and situations. There is an
urgent need to accord greater priority to the elaboration of
a comprehensive convention on international terrorism. The
global community must enhance cooperation to prevent,
combat and eliminate this scourge.
Globalization offers unprecedented opportunities for
sustained economic development. Paradoxically, the rapid
processes of change and adjustment have been accompanied
by intensified poverty, unemployment and social
disorientation. Fears that current patterns of market-driven
globalization may even give rise to further marginalization
of developing countries are not altogether unfounded. All
these clearly indicate that there is an acute need for balance
in order to forge a middle path for the process of
globalization.
My country welcomes the decision taken at the
Cologne Summit in June 1999 by the G-8 aimed at
alleviating some of the debt burden of the heavily
indebted poor countries. We are hopeful that the effective
implementation of this decision will go a long way in
supporting national efforts to reduce the debt burden of
these countries to more serviceable levels and open for
them the opportunities for real and sustained economic
growth.
While we commend our development partners that
have reached or surpassed agreed official development
assistance targets, we regret that with a few exceptions,
the long-standing commitment to United Nations targets
for official development assistance remains largely an
unfulfilled goal. In this regard, Bhutan joins other
developing countries in underlining the importance of the
convening of a high-level conference on the financing of
development within the framework of the United Nations.
Bhutan recognizes that all parties must exert equal efforts
in order to foster a successful development partnership,
but it is increasingly concerned by the growing
marginalization of least developed countries in global
trade, whose share remains below 0.4 per cent. While the
least developed countries have taken steps towards
economic liberalization and institutional reform, their
smooth integration into the global economy must be
facilitated through preferential access to markets and
assistance for institutional capacity-building and
infrastructure development. In this regard, we are
heartened by the general sensitivity and responsiveness
shown by the World Trade Organization.
As a founding member of the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) family,
Bhutan is committed to further strengthening cooperation
in South Asia, where infinitely vast resources and
potentials remain locked and unrealized. We have made
progress in fostering cooperation, particularly in the social
fields, and in strengthening cooperation in the core
economic areas. Of special significance is our
commitment to establish the necessary mechanisms to
enable SAARC to move from a preferential trade
arrangement to a free trade arrangement within a
reasonable period of time.
One of the overriding responsibilities of the United
Nations is in the field of socio-economic development.
Over the decades, the contributions of the various United
Nations agencies have been remarkable, although these
have sometimes been taken for granted. It is important
that we recognize their contributions and provide them
with the necessary resources to effectively continue their
support to developing countries.
26

Bhutan has always pursued a people-centred
development process. Our national development strategies
have always aimed at enhancing gross national happiness
rather than merely increasing gross national product. This
concept calls not only for economic development in the
conventional sense, but for enriching the lives of the people
in a holistic way, through the preservation and promotion
of our rich cultural heritage, through the protection and
conservation of our fragile mountain ecosystem and through
the strengthening and exercise of good governance.
In pursuit of an equitable balance between material
and spiritual development, the Government has consistently
allocated a large share of resources over the last four
decades for social services. Almost 30 per cent of the
present national budget is allocated to the provision of free
basic education and primary health care. To these are
attributable a substantial jump in our literacy rate — and
the advance in enrolment rate — and an increase in life
expectancy for the average Bhutanese by 20 years in two
decades.
We have realized that balanced development is not
always the easiest route to take. It entails considerable
contemplation, a cautious approach and a deliberate
choice of a measured path. It requires patience, restraint
and; indeed, courage: patience to persevere over many
years in order to reap long-term benefits, restraint and
self-control to refrain from fleeting compulsions and
courage to sacrifice immediate gains in favour of long-
term sustainable development.
I would like to seize this opportunity to thank the
many worthy members of this Assembly and the various
United Nations and other multilateral agencies for their
inspiration, cooperation and meaningful support in my
country's endeavour to ensure progress and sustained
gross national happiness.