I should like to congratulate
Mr. Insanally on his election as President of the General
Assembly at its forty-eighth session. While opening our
session, he rightly reminded us of the hopes now placed in
this universal forum - to which we welcome six new
Members - and of the growing need for what he described
as a collective vision of our future.
Allow me to convey to the Government and the people
of India the deepest sympathy of the Irish people for the
victims of the earthquake.
We meet here at a time of great hope for the peoples of
the Middle East. Years of bitter antagonism and conflict
have yielded to agreement and, we hope, reconciliation
between the two great historical traditions in an area that has
seen far too much bloodshed. The signature of the
agreement in Washington was an act of the highest
statesmanship and courage. It deserves a commensurate
response from the other countries of the region and from the
international community.
I welcome President Clinton’s speedy initiative in
convening today a conference on aid to Palestine. We in
Ireland stand ready to play our part, together with our
partners in the European Community. We will increase
substantially our aid to the West Bank and Gaza, and we
will take steps to strengthen and develop our good relations
with Israel and with the Palestinian people.
It is also a time of great hope for the people of South
Africa. When the prisoner of Robben Island, Nelson
Mandela, states, in Afrikaans to an Afrikaner audience, that
what is done, is done, and looks to a shared future for all
South Africans, it sends a powerful message to all of us.
A new South Africa is in the making. We have waited
and striven long for this day. I am happy to announce that
we in Ireland have decided to establish diplomatic relations
with that new South Africa.
It is a time of hope, but also of apprehension,
particularly for the people of Russia. The course of reform
is not yet complete. I am confident that the way forward
identified by President Yeltsin will continue to be endorsed
by the people so that Russia may continue on the path to
stable democracy and sustained economic development.
The recent changes in international life have brought
great and lasting benefits to many: to those who endured
authoritarian forms of government for decades and have now
gained the freedom to exercise their basic human and civil
rights; to peoples released from the super-Power competition
that enabled dictatorial and repressive regimes to act with
impunity; to the wider international community that no
longer lives under the threat of global nuclear conflagration.
Yet the optimism that characterized the early days of the
post-cold-war period has been tempered by the realization
that for every advance in the Middle East or in South Africa,
there is an Angola, or a Yugoslavia, a Somalia, a Sudan.
For all our progress, thousands continue to die in brutal
wars, thousands more suffer from gross abuses of human
rights and millions are denied their basic right to food, water
and shelter. There is still a great distance to be travelled to
a world of justice, equality and true respect for the
individual.
People look here, to the United Nations, to help them
travel that distance. Faced with this hope, this expectation -
this demand - our Organization today must meet challenges
of a kind that it has not had to cope with in the past,
challenges qualitatively different from the international and
regional disputes that have traditionally absorbed so much of
the United Nations energies.
We are coming to understand better the interrelated
nature of these tasks: the struggle to end war; to advance
democracy; to promote economic development; to protect the
dignity of the individual; to ensure freedom and the rule of
law; to protect the environment; to deal with the problems
of population - all are part of the same effort. Success in
one requires progress in others.
We are coming to understand too that the activities of
States and Governments require the broader cooperative
context of the United Nations. As our problems are
transnational, so too must be our response.
The fact is that we need a United Nations whose
organization and decisions truly represent the will of the
international community. We need a United Nations whose
activities truly address the great contemporary challenges,
and we need a United Nations that is not hindered by lack
of resources in personnel and finance.
At no time in its history has the need to re-examine and
strengthen the United Nations system been greater or more
Forty-eighth session - 1 October l993 31
widely felt, and these themes of representation, relevance
and resources are at the heart of the debate about the reform
of the United Nations.
As the body charged with the primary responsibility for
international peace and security, it is imperative that the
Security Council should function well and with authority.
The Council’s response to the huge demands that have been
made of it in recent years has been impressive. The number
and scope of its decisions are greater than ever before, and
the import of those decisions for States and for peoples
everywhere is more far-reaching.
And yet, we must ask if the Council truly represents the
almost universal membership of the Organization and
reflects fully the great changes that have taken place in
economic and political relations. These are questions of the
deepest significance for international cooperation, but I
believe that unless they are addressed now, the political
authority of the Security Council and its capacity to act
decisively and with confidence will be eroded.
Ireland therefore supports the case for an increase in the
membership of the Security Council. I hope that decisions
on this can be taken before the fiftieth anniversary of the
United Nations in two years’ time.
There is a need also for greater transparency in Security
Council decision-making. The general membership, though
it takes no part in the Council’s decisions, is bound by them,
and we are frequently called on to supply personnel and
finance to implement the Council’s expanded and
increasingly complex mandates. We must work for a more
interactive relationship between the Council and the General
Assembly, and for more frequent and substantive reporting
by the Council to the general membership. And we must
look for ways to make the Assembly itself more effective.
It is ironic that for most of its existence, when the
United Nations was not always deemed to be the appropriate
forum for the resolution of major disputes, the Organization
was for the most part adequately resourced. Yet today,
when the demands for action by the United Nations have
reached unprecedented levels, when ideological division no
longer inhibits an effective United Nations role and when the
approach to problem-solving at Security Council level is
essentially cooperative, the Organization finds itself
burdened with a grave and crippling financial crisis.
The Secretary-General has told us that the Organization
is living from hand to mouth. He warns us that the financial
situation could soon prevent the United Nations from
discharging its essential responsibilities and undermine its
political will and practical capacity to undertake any new
activities. And yet the simple truth is this: for every dollar
that the United Nations spends on the instruments of peace,
the world spends almost $2,000 on the weapons of war.
It is simply not acceptable to call on the United Nations
to undertake new responsibilities while declining or failing
to provide the necessary resources. A significant
improvement in the Organization’s finances is now an urgent
priority. I appeal to all Member States in arrears, and
especially those on the Security Council, to comply with
their financial obligations under the Charter. This is a moral
as well as a practical imperative.
The impact of change is particularly apparent in the
area of peace-keeping. In almost every crisis, on every
continent, United Nations forces are deployed on
increasingly varied and complex tasks. By the end of this
year the numbers in the field may total 100,000. And
individual operations are now very large: nearly 20,000
each in Cambodia and Somalia; almost 25,000 in former
Yugoslavia. Ireland now participates in 10 of the 14 United
Nations peace-keeping operations in the field. A significant
proportion of our armed forces is at present engaged in
United Nations peace-keeping duties.
But, beyond the scale of the operations, the nature of
the tasks undertaken by United Nations forces has changed
also. The initial decision to intervene militarily in Somalia
for humanitarian purposes and the subsequent decision to
mandate the United Nations Operation in Somalia
(UNOSOM) to take enforcement action are new departures
for the Organization. And they present new challenges for
troop-contributing countries. In Ireland’s case we had to
change our law to enable our forces to take part in the
Chapter VII operation in Somalia.
It is important for all of us - the United Nations, the
troop contributors, and those whom we seek to help - to
reflect carefully on our experiences and draw the lessons
from the new large-scale operations in Cambodia, Somalia
and Yugoslavia.
It is evident that existing structures both at United
Nations Headquarters and in the field have come under very
considerable strain. The mandates of major United Nations
operations are now multi-faceted. We need mechanisms that
will allow such mandates to be carried through in a manner
that is effective, transparent and humane. I want to mention
two points in particular here today.
32 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
The first is the imperative need to maintain peace -
keeping and peace-enforcement operations within an overall
political framework and to exploit every opportunity for
reconciliation. Enforcement action, when it is undertaken -
and I accept that it may be necessary - should be the
minimum required and it should be carefully directed to
achieving the political aims of the operation. For this
reason, I believe that at the time the Security Council takes
a decision to establish an operation, particularly one
involving peace enforcement, it should pay special attention
to the issues of command and control.
Secondly, there is a need to improve military planning
at United Nations Headquarters and to ensure that the best
military advice and information is available to the
Secretary-General in his conduct of peace-keeping
operations. To this end, an effective planning unit is
required. Thought should also be given to whether the
Military Staff Committee, which is provided for in the
Charter but which has never functioned effectively, could
have a contribution to make.
In Somalia, the overriding objective of the United
Nations operation must be political reconciliation and
national reconstruction.
There have been outstanding successes. One year ago,
several hundreds were dying each day from hunger and
malnutrition. Today, as a result of the work of the Unified
Task Force (UNITAF), UNOSOM and the non-governmental
organizations, people are no longer dying from man-made
famine. A year ago violence was widespread. Today almost
all of Somalia is calm.
The exception is south Mogadishu, where the efforts of
UNOSOM have been continually frustrated and many,
including 60 United Nations peace-keepers, have lost their
lives. In pursuance of its overall aim of political
reconciliation, the United Nations must continue its search
for a peaceful resolution in Mogadishu, learning from and
building on its success elsewhere in Somalia.
Most of the conflicts that this Assembly will address in
the coming weeks are marked by massive abuses of human
rights - summary executions, torture, detention, rape,
mutilation. And even outside of these open conflicts the
dignity of the individual is frequently violated by
authoritarian and repressive regimes. At Vienna in June, the
World Conference on Human Rights sought to strengthen the
protection of human rights worldwide. Most of us who
attended that meeting came away feeling that progress had
indeed been made. It is essential that the agreed Programme
of Action be given the highest priority and acted on by this
Assembly. A United Nations commissioner for human rights
should be appointed. The resources devoted to human rights
activities in the United Nations system should be doubled.
The United Nations human rights machinery, especially in
relation to the protection of women, should be strengthened.
And we must make decisive progress on the establishment
of an international criminal tribunal to prosecute persons
responsible for violations of humanitarian law wherever they
occur.
The abuses of human rights in Yugoslavia have
provoked a profound determination in the international
community that those responsible must be brought to justice.
The ad hoc approach, unavoidable in the case of Yugoslavia,
points to the need for a permanent international criminal
tribunal with an established jurisdiction and an identified
body of applicable law. The General Assembly at this
session should examine the valuable work done on this topic
by the International Law Commission.
We can take advantage of the changed international
situation to pursue our work on disarmament and arms
control. We must intensify our efforts to halt the spread of
nuclear weapons. I am heartened by the decision of some
nuclear States to maintain a moratorium on nuclear testing
and I call on others to do the same. Our objective must be
a comprehensive treaty banning nuclear testing forever.
Ireland has proposed that the United Nations should
elaborate a code of conduct for conventional arms transfers
which would encourage States to exercise responsibility and
restraint in their arms transfers and which would set out
common principles to be observed in this area. We believe
that, as the international community moves towards a closer
understanding of its shared responsibility for international
security in the framework of the United Nations, such a code
would represent an important step forward in the area of
arms control.
Last year Ireland called for an agenda for development
that would complement and stand alongside the
Secretary-General’s "Agenda for Peace". We are pleased
that such a report is now in preparation. Our vision of the
future cannot ignore the images of deprivation and need we
see every day from all too many parts of the world. The
reality of this suffering is a test for all of us. The Irish
Government is committed to doubling the percentage of
gross national product devoted to official development aid in
the period 1993 to 1997. Peace and development are not
separable.
Forty-eighth session - 1 October l993 33
We must recognize what the Secretary-General has
called the humanitarian imperative. The international
community must be assured that the United Nations and its
development agencies will respond quickly to emergencies
as they occur. The creation within the Secretariat of a new
Department of Humanitarian Affairs has been a useful step
towards that end.
The international community must look squarely at
certain incontrovertible features of our shared existence on
this planet: climate change, a possible doubling of the
world’s population by the middle of the next century,
pressures imposed by our patterns of production and
consumption, great imbalances in the availability of
technology and resources. In many of these areas, the Rio
Conference and its Agenda 21 have identified the way
ahead. I am pleased that the Commission on Sustainable
Development and other organs provided for in Rio are off to
a promising start.
We must acknowledge that the issues we address under
the auspices of this Assembly and those which arise in the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the
Bretton Woods institutions cannot be separated. In all of
these areas, our aim must be a peaceful, integrated
international society in which our sense of the common good
increasingly qualifies considerations of national power and
immediate expediency.
As the dramatic developments in the Israeli-Palestinian
relationship and the equally historic changes in South Africa
have shown, progress is possible even in the most obdurate
of conflicts if the protagonists are willing to look towards a
common future.
Northern Ireland represents a challenge of similar
dimensions to the British and Irish Governments and to the
peoples of both islands. Some would say that the conflict is
fundamentally incapable of resolution. I do not accept that,
and I will not accept it. Like the vast majority of my
compatriots, I yearn for peace on our island.
I want to see a comprehensive settlement which will
enable men, women and children to go about their daily
lives in peace and without fear. All of us in both islands are
paying the price of past political failures. We should not ask
future generations to bear the cost of further failure.
I have no illusions about the complexity of the issues.
I know that there are no easy or quick solutions - no single
step that can remove the necessity for a long and painstaking
journey. But I believe that, with sufficient good will and
determination, the Irish and British Governments and the
leaders of the constitutional parties in Northern Ireland can
lead the people they represent out of the stalemate which
exists at present towards a peaceful and secure future. As
I have said elsewhere, the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are all
to hand if only we can find the right way to fit them
together.
The Irish Government is ready to play its full part in
this. We will bring to any resumed talks the resources of
good will, flexibility and imagination which we believe all
participants must display if a new agreement is to be
achieved.
It is painfully obvious that all traditional approaches
have failed and that new thinking is urgently required. For
our part, we are willing to look afresh at our own traditional
assumptions and at our relationships with others to see if
there are new approaches which can open a way forward.
We are ready to accept the need for radical and innovative
compromise as part of a new accommodation which will
bring lasting peace and reconciliation to the island of
Ireland.
Compromise does not mean asking either of the two
traditions in Northern Ireland to modify its fundamental
beliefs or, indeed, to suppress its objectives. It does mean
asking each tradition to recognize that the other deserves
equal respect and must be accommodated on equal terms.
It means accepting that diversity can be enriching rather than
threatening and that both traditions in Ireland must find a
way to share the island on a basis of partnership and trust.
Peace and stability will not be found in any political
system which is imposed, or which is rejected by a
substantial part of the population who live within it.
What we need in the island of Ireland is a collective
will to rise above traditional suspicions and animosities and
a readiness to look beyond areas of disagreement to areas
where we can work together to mutual advantage.
Peace is now the imperative, and the continuation of
violence is the single greatest obstacle to the realization of
our hopes. An end to violence would open up new
possibilities and allow all of us to emerge from the shadow
of a very troubled history.
It would, at last, help to clear the way for compromise
and negotiation, leading to an agreement which would
achieve a fair and lasting accommodation between
nationalism and unionism in Ireland. We must lift our sights
34 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
to the new horizons of possibility which developments in the
Middle East and South Africa have opened for us. This is
the objective of the Government which I represent. I believe
we can have no higher objective.


On behalf of the
Mauritius delegation, it is my pleasure and privilege to
extend to Mr. Insanally our heartiest congratulations on his
election as President of the General Assembly at its forty-
eighth session. We wish to assure him and members of his
Bureau of our full cooperation and support in the tasks that
lie ahead of them. The election of a representative of
Guyana to the presidency of this Assembly is gratifying in
more ways than one and underlines the fact that even the
smallest of States belonging to this Organization has a role
to play on the international scene and will not shy away
from any responsibility that may be entrusted to it, however
big the challenge.
We should also like to place on record our appreciation
of his predecessor for the commendable manner in which he
conducted the deliberations of the forty-seventh session of
the General Assembly.
Mauritius is pleased to welcome into the family of the
United Nations its new Members: Andorra, the Czech
Republic, Eritrea, Monaco, the Slovak Republic and The
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. We are hopeful
that these new Members will uphold and strengthen the
ideals enshrined in the Charter of this Organization and we
look forward to their active participation in our deliberations.
Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 29
It is important, in my delegation’s view, that I address
in the first instance an issue of prime concern to the
functioning of our Organization. There is at present much
debate and ambivalence about the future role and
orientations of the United Nations. While it is generally
accepted that the United Nations as a multilateral
organization should adapt to and reflect the profound
changes that have taken place since its founding,
considerable doubt exists on what proposals and practical
measures should be adopted to make the United Nations
system more effective and forge it into a relevant instrument
of global governance. Is the United Nations able to respond
to the new demands, opportunities and challenges that have
emerged especially since the end of the cold war and still
remain true to its Charter? That the United Nations in
recent years has already been able to play a more central
role in world affairs and assume greater responsibilities in
the wide range of social and political problems is an
indication that it has earned the growing acceptance of the
world community as a legitimate vehicle for addressing
significant global issues.
However, beneath the prestige of regained moral stature
and recognition that its ideals and message are still valid is
the reality that the United Nations administrative structures
and institutions are in dire need of reform. The United
Nations system remains ill-equipped for the scope of its
current operations and activities. The evolving nature of the
United Nations will therefore have a crucial impact on the
future shape and management of the post-cold-war
international economic and political environment.
The current debate on revitalization and restructuring
hinges on whether the United Nations should become more
focused or more encompassing. Despite clear
pronouncements for change at the level of the Assembly, the
Security Council, social and economic organs and peace-
keeping operations, it is evident that many Member States
are neither expecting the process to result in any sweeping
structural reforms nor contemplating a revision of the
Charter.
Progress will therefore need to come from within, the
result of a balancing act between divergent interests and
political considerations. It would be unfortunate, however,
if such an agreement were merely a reflection of a lowest
common denominator rather than the product of genuine
cooperation.
I concede that the reform of such an Organization is no
easy task and requires the assistance of one and all. Last
year the Mauritius delegation to the General Assembly
commended the Secretary-General’s efforts at reforming our
Organization. I should like to reiterate our appreciation for
what has been achieved so far and our support for the work
currently being undertaken by the Secretary-General to
revitalize the United Nations.
I remain convinced that the emerging global situation
has brought the objective of restructuring the United Nations
system within reach. Such reform should, in the end, cater
for the aspirations of the peoples of this world and enable
the Organization to respond favourably to the emerging new
expectations.
The General Assembly, we believe, ought to be
encouraged, by its increased membership and a general trend
towards democratization, to assume a more preponderant
place in the affairs of the Organization. It should strengthen
its policy-making role, especially in the social and economic
fields, so as to exercise greater balance with the Security
Council, whose mandate is now expanding beyond the
traditional delineation of threats to peace and security into
such areas as human-rights violations and humanitarian
assistance, through preventive diplomacy and innovative
peace-keeping operations. Thus, while remaining the crucial
forum for discussion, the General Assembly would increase
its capacity to respond to major problems and take
initiatives.
On the other hand, greater consensus among its
members has enabled the Security Council to assert its
authority and break new ground in authorizing the use of
force under Chapter VII of the Charter - for example, in
Somalia, where domestic jurisdiction would normally apply,
or Yugoslavia, through preventive action. The Council has
also had more frequent recourse to sanctions, using them on
five occasions since 1990. The intensification of the United
Nations presence has undeniably enhanced the reputation of
the Organization. But it has also raised questions about the
Council’s composition and apprehension over its decision-
making process.
The new responsibilities and importance assumed by
the Council would justify, in our view, some form of
enlargement to reflect the new level of membership of the
United Nations. A more representative Council would earn
recognition and legitimate acceptance and be able to take
action quickly and effectively with the imprimatur of
fairness.
The Council could, we believe, withstand changes and
still retain its main executive function, while improving at
30 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
the same time its coordination with other United Nations
bodies, such as the General Assembly.
Peace-keeping has become one of the major
responsibilities of the Council. The rapid expansion of
peace-keeping operations and the huge involvement of
United Nations personnel in this area have boosted
confidence in the Organization and given it a higher
international profile. Unfortunately, peace-keeping is also
becoming a heavy burden in terms of financial and human
resources, which threatens to curtail the Organization’s
involvement in other priority areas. Peace-keeping should
not be confined merely to narrow security objectives,
excluding broader considerations of non-military threats to
security.
The Security Council has, in fact, special responsibility
in shaping the future of peace-keeping as an effective
safeguard in areas of conflict, or potential conflict, in
volatile domestic or regional situations where major threats
to international peace reside today.
However, as the Secretary-General notes in his report
on the implementation of the recommendations of his
"Agenda for Peace",
"Peace-keeping is in a state of rapid evolution as the
United Nations is asked to undertake increasingly
complex and dangerous tasks." (A/47/965, para. 26)
As the mandate of peace-keeping operations extends beyond
their traditional domain into such areas as electoral
assistance, humanitarian relief activities, human-rights
monitoring, assistance for nation-building, border-monitoring
and sanctions enforcement, clearer peace-keeping guidelines
and standards, based on properly defined mandates and
adequate financial support, become essential. Within the
parameters of fundamental principles and their interpretation,
peace-keeping operations should be designed to work. The
United Nations has made good use of the lessons of concrete
and painful experience.
Mauritius, for its part, would like to suggest that when
carrying out the reform exercise we should not only address
the issues of financial resources or expansion of the
membership of the Security Council, but also look at matters
of concern raised in other forums and their attendant
consequences for this Organization. We should, hence, not
fail to give due attention to the principles contained in the
Declaration on International Economic Cooperation, adopted
at the eighteenth special session of the General Assembly,
especially with respect to the rejuvenation of equitable
economic growth and development. We must bear clearly
in mind other new and globally agreed programmes, such as
the New Agenda for the Development of Africa, Agenda
21, which came out of the Rio Conference, and the
recommendations of the second World Conference on
Human Rights.
Any changes in the structure of the United Nations
should be the product of as large a consensus as possible, in
order to preserve the credibility of our Organization, and in
this task we must be guided inexorably by the spirit of the
United Nations Charter.
However, while we uphold this spirit, it is our opinion
that serious consideration should be given to a review of the
provisions of the Charter. A rereading of the Charter would
enable us to look anew at its contents and allow us to
propose amendments in the light of new world realities. I
also urge that the Assembly insist on greater clarity in its
resolutions. This will certainly facilitate action and prevent
time lost discussing varying interpretations of resolutions.
No doubt, one of the most striking events since the last
session of the General Assembly has been the second World
Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in June of this
year. The Conference was an opportunity to review the
evolution of the attitudes of the peoples of the world towards
the upholding of the rights and dignity of man since the first
World Conference on Human Rights, which was held in
Tehran in 1968. The quarter of a century that separates the
holding of these two Conferences has witnessed a lot of
changes, notably the assertion of those States which emerged
from the demise of colonization.
In Vienna, both the old and the new players in the
world’s human rights forums were able to put forward their
concerns and aspirations. The discussions, though not
always easy, had the advantage of being frank. We in
Mauritius firmly believe that the end result of the
Conference will be beneficial to the protection of the rights
of the individual. We must see to it, however, that the
provisions of the Vienna Declaration and Plan of Action are
implemented and do not become mere additional documents
in the international archives. In this context, I wish yet
again to make a special appeal to this Assembly for a
substantial increase in the resources of the Centre for Human
Rights to enable it to attend to its responsibilities with
consistency and efficiency and thus contribute more
effectively to the universal upholding of human rights.
Mauritius wishes to reiterate, in the most forceful
manner possible, its support for the recommendation of the
Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 31
second World Conference on Human Rights that this
Assembly address urgently the need to establish a post of
United Nations high commissioner for human rights. It is
our sincere hope that a favourable decision will be reached
to reflect the wishes of the peoples of the world. Such an
office would play the necessary role of coordinating United
Nations work on human rights and would be the focal point
for upholding human rights norms.
In keeping with its stand on human rights issues,
Mauritius would also like to state its support for the
responsibilities assigned to the International Tribunal for the
prosecution of those responsible for the serious crimes
committed against humanity in the territory of the former
Yugoslavia since 1 January 1991. We would like to
congratulate all those eminent persons who have been
elected to sit on this Tribunal and wish them well in their
difficult task.
Indeed, we view with great concern and sadness the
atrocities and untold sufferings endured by the peoples of the
former Republic of Yugoslavia, particularly the children.
Let the impartial conclusions of the Tribunal serve as a
lesson to those who believe they can get away with such
degrading actions, such disrespect for human life. The
seriousness and steadfastness with which the Tribunal carries
out its duty will bear witness to the fact that the world
community does not remain insensitive and will not be
complacent in the face of such despicable and reprehensible
acts wherever and whenever they occur. Yet as this century
of our so-called civilized world fades away, the history of
Bosnia and Herzegovina will be written with the blood of
thousands of innocent men, women and children.
Earlier this year the world exulted at the news that
France, the United States of America and the Russian
Federation had voluntarily extended their moratoriums on
nuclear testing. It is heartening to observe that 1993 may
yet be the year when the world will have enjoyed the longest
respite from nuclear testing and its attendant consequences,
despite the recent disturbing reports pointing to the
possibility of a resumption of nuclear testing by certain
countries. No one doubts the nuclear strength of the
countries which have made the moratorium a policy and it
is to their credit that they have so far not been tempted to
show their might by resuming nuclear testing.
It is our sincere wish that members of the nuclear club
adhere to their declared moratoriums, for the resumption of
nuclear testing by any of those States would jeopardize the
1995 conference for the review and extension of the
non-proliferation Treaty, and would, to our mind, inevitably
undermine the current efforts aimed at global disarmament.
It would be unrealistic on our part not to recognize that,
despite uncertainties and ongoing foyers of tension, the
world political climate has improved considerably. As cold
war rivalry faded, significant bilateral progress was made
with the conclusion of the START Treaties and the
subsequent agreements for reduction in the respective
nuclear arsenals of the erstwhile super-Powers. These
positive efforts were reinforced internationally by the
decision of a number of States, including France, China and
South Africa, to adhere to the non-proliferation Treaty at a
crucial phase in its review process.
Such encouraging developments bode well for all small
nations like ours whose safety rests upon the foundations of
a reliable collective security system. The recent historic
agreement between the PLO and Israel and the imminent
constitution of a democratic non-racial South Africa should
pave the way for rapid progress towards the denuclearization
of Africa. Likewise, we note with great satisfaction the
consensus emerging in the deliberations of the Ad Hoc
Committee on the Indian Ocean to adopt new approaches in
response to the changing international situation and give
fresh impetus to the process of strengthening cooperation,
peace, security and stability in the Indian Ocean region. The
increased participation in this year’s session suggests that the
General Assembly could accordingly consider broadening the
Committee’s mandate.
Success at the regional level depends largely on a
global atmosphere that is conducive to disarmament. We
wish therefore to reiterate, in this perspective, the importance
of the current negotiations for the review of the NPT and the
conclusion of a test ban which should provide non-nuclear
States with firm security assurances and address the various
issues of nuclear proliferation. The threat of the spreading
of smaller nuclear weapons is compounded by the
availability of weapons-grade nuclear material produced
from plutonium and highly enriched uranium and the relative
lack of proper commercial safeguards. To these dangers
must be added the potential hazard of nuclear pollution and
the dumping of toxic wastes.
Casting a glance at the world in general, we have
reason to hope for the advent of peace in the various hitherto
violence-ridden regions of our planet in a not-too-distant
future. On the African continent, we note a trend towards
solutions to difficult situations. In Mozambique, we salute
the signing of the General Peace Agreement for
Mozambique between the Government of Mozambique and
32 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
RENAMO, the Mozambique national resistance movement.
We commend the positive contribution of the United Nations
operations in Mozambique. We urge the leaders concerned
to show sufficient flexibility in the current negotiations
aimed at elaborating appropriate electoral laws for the
country.
South Africa is another source of hope. We in
Mauritius have been following very closely the evolution of
discussions in the multiparty negotiating forum and are
particularly appreciative of the resolution adopted
unanimously by the Technical Negotiating Council on
16 August 1993, which endorses the return of Walvis Bay
and the offshore islands to Namibia. We have had the
opportunity to congratulate those responsible for this very
positive step, which we also applaud as a confidence-
building measure in that region.
We welcome the installation of the Transitional
Executive Council and wish to pledge our readiness - as a
country which has made, in its own modest way, its share of
contributions to the democratization process across the
world - to help in the preparations leading to the elections of
27 April 1994.
The capacity to dismantle apartheid, establish the basis
of a new constitution by consensus, and agree on an
election date within a few years is no mean achievement.
However, whilst many rapid and positive changes are taking
place, South Africa continues to be plagued by ceaseless
violence. Time and again we have deplored the upsurge of
violence which has cost the lives of several of Africa’s most
illustrious sons, among them the sorely missed Chris Hani.
We therefore welcome wholeheartedly the proposal to
establish a national peace force in South Africa, made up of
representatives of all parties, which would be entrusted with
the task of preventing violence in particularly volatile areas.
The creation of this mechanism shows the determination and
ardent desire of all in South Africa to resolve outstanding
issues and to proceed as planned for violence-free elections
in April of next year.

In Somalia, we have been distressed by the senseless
killing of members of the United Nations Forces as well as
Somali civilians. The skirmishes being witnessed in Somalia
have regrettably shifted world attention away from the
starving millions to manhunts. Women and children dying
daily for want of food have been relegated insignificantly to
the backstage. Mauritius would like to call on the leaders of
the various Somali factions to revert to the agreement
reached in Addis Ababa and submit themselves to the peace-
keeping process within the context of the recently established
Organization of African Unity (OAU) Mechanism for the
Prevention, Management and Resolution of Conflicts. Our
fervent appeal to all those bent on perpetuating the blood
bath in Somalia is to heed the concerns of the international
community and indeed act in the interests of the Somali
people rather than in their own selfish interests.
In our Indian Ocean region, on an issue of direct
concern to us, I am happy to say that meaningful dialogue
on the Chagos Archipelago is taking place with the United
Kingdom authorities.
While we hail the success of the United Nations in
Cambodia, we cannot but decry the atrocious situation in
Angola, where thousands of lives are done away with daily.
The question that must be asked is this: to what end will a
country depleted of its human resources serve those who, in
their desperation to be at the helm of affairs, are ready to
sacrifice countless lives and lay waste that very country?
We exhort Mr. Savimbi and his UNITA to come to terms
with reality and accept the will of the Angolan people as
expressed through the ballot box.
Outside the African continent, the Middle East, which
has witnessed one of the most bitter conflicts of the century,
heralds a new era. There is cause for satisfaction in the
knowledge that the peace process which began at the Madrid
Conference in October 1991 has taken a decisive turn with
Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
extending mutual and official recognition to each other. Let
us hope that the plan for Palestinian self-rule in Gaza and
Jericho is but a prelude to Israel’s complete withdrawal from
the occupied territories, a sine qua non for a just and durable
peace in the Middle East.
As I said earlier, we have reason to rejoice at the
thought of more peaceful days in various areas of the world.
However, this prospect is marred by other concerns. In Fiji
the long-awaited review of the Constitution has not yet taken
place, with the unfortunate result that the electoral system is
in stagnation. We feel that meaningful changes in the
Constitution, as promised by the Fijian authorities, will
restore confidence in the Fijian community and will bring
about smoother relations in the country for the benefit of all.
Mauritius, as a multi-cultural, multi-religious and
multi-ethnic society, is willing, in all humility, to share with
Fijian authorities the benefits of its own experience of
harmonious living and to assist, should it be so wished, in
the review of the Constitution.
Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 33
While there are promising developments in the world,
the global economy continues to evoke distress. The long-
awaited economic recovery in developed countries continues
to be inconsistent and uneven; global economic stability
remains more elusive than ever. Economic growth and
development proper are the only durable, effective and
equitable solution to instability and to a host of other
associated problems facing the world. We believe, therefore,
that it is the concern of the entire world to ponder seriously
a new form of multilateralism which would ensure
systematic coordination of policies involving all groups of
countries.
We believe that the rapid internationalization of the
world economy points to the urgency to resume North-
South dialogue constructively and in a spirit of cooperation
and understanding. This dialogue should become an
instrument for the promotion of economic growth in
developing countries and should address world economic
problems practically, instead of remaining a mere slogan
interspersed now and again by half-measures aimed more at
placating genuine concerns of the South than at evolving a
workable long-term policy to bridge the ever-widening gap
between the North and the South with immediate,
medium-term and long-term solutions to the exasperating
problems that plague most developing countries.
The efforts of most developing economies are
compromised by the consequences of unbridled
protectionism, deteriorating commodity prices, acute debt
problems, declining financial flows, poverty and
unfavourable terms for the transfer of technology. However,
in the face of the unfair competition that continues to hold
sway on the international trade scene, we should ensure, for
example, that the provisions of the Lomé Convention that
binds the European Economic Community with the Asian,
Caribbean and Pacific group of countries are upheld in any
multilateral trade negotiations.
We in Mauritius are eager for a balanced outcome of
the Uruguay Round and have therefore been extremely
disappointed at the scant attention paid to the interests of the
developing countries which are vulnerable to shifts in the
world economic order. The ongoing negotiations have
turned out to be primarily a battle of wits and nerves among
the developed countries. We have studied the latest
proposals from Geneva with attention, and our frank reaction
is one of consternation and dismay.
What is proposed is a cataclysmic operation which calls
for the system to be completely refounded, the structures that
exist to be razed, and the groupings within which we
conduct our foreign trade to be dismantled. What is
suggested by the major negotiators is a change so convulsive
that only the most resilient economies will emerge
unscathed.
Mauritius considers this situation to be most unfair,
unjust and, above all, counter-productive, in the long run.
Mauritius, which has an open economy banking on export-
led growth, is in favour of free trade and liberalization of
exchanges with due regard for the acquired rights of various
groups of developing countries. We believe, however, that
such change must come about through an orderly,
evolutionary process that will give ample time for
adaptation, rather than through external imposition which has
little consideration for factors other than economic. We
therefore appeal to all contracting parties to strive earnestly
for a conclusion of the Uruguay Round that will take into
account the difficulties of the developing countries and the
particular situation of small island States.
Both the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development and the General Assembly have recognized
the specificities of small island States and the attention that
should be given to them in view of the special case they
constitute in the interrelation of environment and
development. These States are characterized by their limited
size in relation to the length of their coastline, limited
natural resources, relative geographical isolation, extremely
fragile and vulnerable ecosystem and a vast expanse of seas
forming part of their territorial limits. For small island
nations the ocean and the coastal environment are hence of
primary importance and constitute a basic development
resource.
The record of the United Nations in the social and
economic fields is a mixed one. Its contribution to global
awareness and respect for human rights and democratic
values is undisputed. The Rio and Vienna Conferences were
landmarks of global cooperation, despite divergent
perceptions on the strengthening of relevant institutions and
adoption of concrete measures.
Such cooperation could in our view be developed by
maintaining a strong role for the Commission on Sustainable
Development and by choosing a feasible and incremental
approach to implementing the commitments made by
Governments under Agenda 21. In this regard, we look
forward to the fruitful preparations for the Global
Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing States and its successful outcome in Barbados
next year, as the first test case in the ongoing Rio process.
We also feel that the General Assembly should seriously
34 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
consider establishing an intersessional mechanism to
complete the work of the Preparatory Committee for the
Conference.
We, for our part, are as committed as any of those who
have made the protection of the global environment their
leitmotif. We have ratified the Climate Change Convention,
the Biodiversity Convention, the Montreal Protocol and the
Basel and the Bamako Conventions, among other
instruments. Our concern is to safeguard the world and
ensure the well-being of those who live in it.
(spoke in French)
Let me pursue my thoughts on participation by small
States in international life by calling attention to the fact that
in a few weeks Mauritius will have the honour to host the
fifth Summit of French-speaking Countries and by saying a
few words about the two principal themes that will be
addressed by Heads of State or Government of countries that
share the use of the French language: human rights and
development; and unity in diversity.
Those timely questions illustrate our concerns at a time
when the world is undergoing profound change and when
most of our countries continue to face challenges of
development. My country wants to make its own
contribution, however modest, to the thought of the French-
speaking world and the rest of the international community
so that mankind may see - based on the example of
Mauritius - that peaceful coexistence in a multi-cultural,
multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic culture is no mere Utopian idea.
I wish to thank the Secretary-General, a great friend of
the French-speaking world, for having agreed, despite his
weighty responsibilities, to honour us with his presence at a
Summit that will bring together, at the highest level,
delegations from 47 countries and from all continents.
(spoke in English)
As members will appreciate, we small States are
nevertheless doing our best to make our share of
contributions in order to bequeath to future generations an
environmentally clean world, a world free of want, a world
free of war, a world where peace and harmony will prevail.
Can we expect the same from those with mightier resources?


It
is with genuine pleasure that we speak from this United
Nations rostrum and join previous speakers in sincerely
congratulating you, Sir. I do so on behalf of the people and
the Government of Burundi and on our own behalf. It is in
recognition of your distinguished qualities that the Assembly
has chosen you to preside over its work at this session. We
are convinced that your wisdom and your political and
diplomatic experience will enable you to guide the work of
the forty-eighth session of the General Assembly in a
masterly, successful way.
We also congratulate the other members of the Bureau
of the General Assembly.
We wish also to pay a well-deserved tribute to your
predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Stoyan Ganev, for the skill
and vision with which he guided the work of the Assembly
at its forty-seventh session.
Further, we express our gratitude to the
Secretary-General, His Excellency
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for the vision with which he has
guided the Organization and for his tireless efforts to ensure
the maintenance of international peace and security.
The Republic of Burundi warmly welcomes the
countries that have recently joined the United Nations
family; we welcome the representatives of the Czech
Republic, the Slovak Republic, The Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, Eritrea, the Principality of Monaco
and the Principality of Andorra.
The people and the Government of Burundi join the
rest of the international community in conveying sincere
condolences to the Government and the people of India on
the earthquake that has struck their country and that has
caused the death of some 20,000 people. We assure the
people and the Government of India of my country’s
sympathy and moral support in this harsh ordeal inflicted by
Nature.
The people of Burundi, through me, is honoured and
pleased to send a message to the international community
represented here in the General Assembly. That message,
which is being delivered on the morrow of the victory of
democracy in our land, is one of peace, friendship, fraternity
and solidarity.
The beginning of this century was marked by
devastating wars that led to the crystallization and
bipolarization of international relations. The ensuing cold
war, with the two major ideological and military blocs in
confrontation, was reflected in many countries by the
establishment of totalitarian power. Africa, which was at the
same time emerging from the long night of colonialism,
found itself unwillingly involved in the dynamics of that
rationale. Peoples who had theoretically been freed from the
colonial yoke nevertheless found themselves, to their great
consternation, confronted with authorities that had been
imposed upon them or established by force, and that were
devoid of any legitimacy, just like the colonial order that had
theoretically been brought to an end.
In that context the rights and freedoms of the human
person were openly flouted. The State based on law became
a mirage, the right to life and the growth of the human spirit
a utopian ideal. In their concern to consolidate their power,
which lacked any popular base, some leaders inflamed and
exploited inherent differences based on ethnicity and
regionalism, which they imbued with political significance.
Our country did not escape that state of affairs. The
past 30 years have been marked by ethnic upheavals that
have traumatized our people. In truth, the history of the
people of Burundi is replete with tragedies. Political forces
have exploited ethnic differences with impunity and have
fought to control the State for their own interests.
Outright crimes against humanity have been committed
by individuals and by organized groups, some of which have
enjoyed the protection and blessing of the State, which lent
itself to the perpetration of such base actions. That sowed
mistrust and suspicion among the ethnic groups in our
country, thus traumatizing the people and creating unease
about the future. So violent did the tragedy become that
there were those who wondered how Burundi would ever
manage to emerge from the toils of the violence in which it
had become enmeshed.
Burundi’s recent political development demonstrates its
people’s ability to shake off those toils and to rid themselves
from their fears.
The ideology of human rights and its corollary,
democracy in the management of public affairs, have taken
the place of violent, repressive and exclusionary measures to
such a degree that the people of Burundi have gradually
come to realize that in order to solve their problems they
must turn to a democracy that transcends differences,
divisions and hatreds.
We made a choice. Today, we are more than ever
convinced that that choice was a good one. The people of
Burundi embarked upon this process, at first hesitant but
confident, with of course the inevitable ups and downs, and
they succeeded in holding free, just and open elections.
Today, the people of Burundi are proud, proud of
having managed to overcome the many difficulties and
obstacles strewn on their path towards democracy and proud
too of being able to take full control over their history in an
open, just and equitable way.
The date of 1 June 1993 will remain a memorable one
in our country’s history. On that day, for the first time in
Burundi’s history, free, pluralist and open elections were
held, designed to give the country truly democratic
institutions. The positive manner in which the various
protagonists have accepted the people’s verdict demonstrates
that the people of Burundi are henceforth convinced that the
path of democracy - and especially in its electoral aspect, in
which the people’s will is expressed and legitimacy
conferred - is the only proper way to resolve the problems
entailed in the access to and exercise of power.
Further, the legislative elections of 29 June 1993 were
to confirm the will of a people desirous of living henceforth
in peace.
We should like to take this opportunity to extend
heartfelt thanks to all who, from near or far, supported our
country in its march towards democracy. We have greatly
appreciated the material, technological and financial support
provided by friendly countries and international and
intergovernmental organizations that have enabled us to
organize in a suitable manner Burundi’s first free, pluralist
elections.
The democratic administration of a society we are now
in the process of undertaking cannot be viewed as an end in
itself. Rather, it is a means to consolidate peace, to
strengthen confidence among the various components of our
nation and to accelerate the economic, social and cultural
development to which all men aspire.
Today, therefore, the Government of Burundi is
bending every effort to achieve the gradual elimination of all
the obstacles that have paralysed or retarded the Burundi
people’s drive towards growth and overall development. We
are working towards this end, and we are convinced that
with the support of the international community we can meet
the challenge.
Forty-eighth session - 4 October 1993 3
It is at present our most heartfelt hope that the people
of Burundi will henceforth be safe from ethnic
confrontations. We want no more blood shed in ethnic
confrontations anywhere in the land, in the homes, in the
hills, in towns and provinces, in schools and barracks.
Never again! That is the watchword of the whole of the
people of Burundi.
We also want the people of Burundi to accept their
history as it is. Mistakes have naturally been made, and
there are other serious problems that continue to weigh on
our democratic process. Nevertheless, they must not
obstruct or paralyse us. Setbacks and problems exist to be
overcome. Mistakes must be recognized as such and
corrected. That is one of the basic tenets for a new Burundi.
Yes, we must accept our history the better to face the
future. We want that future to be a safer and securer one
for all. Thus, the Government we formed following the
elections last June is an open Government. In it, we have
brought together people from every ethnic group, from every
region of the country and of different political persuasions.
All those people from every social background and
differing political persuasions are working together with
might and main to ensure that the process of democratization
in Burundi will be irreversible. We consider that to be the
best way to reach our goal, namely, to reconcile the people
of Burundi with themselves and with their State the better to
commit themselves to the battle for their economic, social
and cultural development.
Guided by that will, the Government has just proposed,
and the National Assembly has ratified, an amnesty law
under which more than 5,000 of our compatriots - 70 per
cent of our country’s prison population - are to regain their
freedom and thereby take part in building a democratic
Burundi, confident and more integral.
We wish to tell the world that through that amnesty law
the people of Burundi mean to make a new start towards a
better development of their destiny and the installation of
peace in the subregion.
While granting amnesty to those who, at home or
abroad, have derogated from the fundamental rights of the
people of Burundi as a whole and of individual members of
that people in particular, we want to accept our history
without thereby becoming its prisoners. Through a national
pardon, we want to establish a context of security for all
those in Burundi who, in their hearts or in the eyes of the
nation, are responsible for acts committed in the course of
past tragedies. Indeed, given the tragic acts our people have
known, sometimes the result of shared responsibilities but
often arising out of imprecise causes, we must wipe the slate
clean. We must view the future with greater clarity,
confidence and serenity. That is a solid basis for domestic
peace, but it can also contribute to the restoration and
optimum consolidation of security and peace in our
subregion.
The happy outcome of democracy in our country has
thus become an unprecedentedly powerful catalyst in the
settlement of another thorny problem affecting our
subregion. I refer to the question of refugees, of whom
there are some 200,000. These compatriots who are victims
of tragedies of the past three decades and who have been
forced to stay in exile, seeking refuge in neighbouring
countries here and there throughout the world, have had their
hopes rekindled. For them - and they are perfectly right -
the triumph of democracy has removed the essential reason
for their leaving their country. Today they have chosen to
return to their homeland, which welcomes them with open
arms.
Before talking about the conditions that will have to be
met before these compatriots can be assured of a safe return,
I should like first to discharge the duty of thanking all
countries, particularly our neighbours Tanzania, Rwanda
and Zaire, and all the international organizations, especially
those in the United Nations system, and in particular the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
that for some 20 years have enabled them to continue to feel
like human beings.
The Government of Burundi must now continue this
process by ensuring the happy return and the effective and
dignified reintegration of these citizens into the country’s
economic, social and cultural life. To succeed, we shall
have to mobilize many material and financial resources to
meet emergency needs and satisfy long-term requirements.
We make an earnest appeal to the international community
to provide such support as we engage in this highly
humanitarian process.
We are faced with a massive and spontaneous return of
Burundi refugees from neighbouring and distant countries.
We are honoured and filled with joy at the confidence and
spontaneity of our compatriots. At the same time, lack of
the means and the infrastructure that we need to cater for
them causes us deep concern. We are now identifying in
detail all the steps that will have to be taken if we are to
organize, before next December, a conference to inform
sponsors to help finance this large-scale operation.
4 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
In the meantime, we are using the modest means at our
disposal, while relying on national solidarity and, especially,
on the laudable intervention of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, to whom we again express our
deep gratitude. Pending the establishment, in the receiving
areas, of a medium-term plan for the gradual repatriation and
reabsorption of these returnees into a global, integrated
development programme, we have just published an
emergency plan to deal with the arrival of 50,000 people
between now and February 1994. The latter, because of the
precariousness of their conditions, are returning right away.
This will enable us, having secured the necessary means, to
alleviate their suffering and to accord them the dignity to
which they are entitled.
In the economic field, our major concern is to ensure
a just and appropriate link between human, natural and
financial resources so that we may provide the goods and
services to satisfy the constantly increasing needs of our
population. Development of the rural sector will require
special attention from the public authorities, given the fact
that more than 90 per cent of our population live in the
countryside. We want to modernize the rural economy, and
the spirit of enterprise, self-improvement, research and
creativity will play a very important part in the economic
approach of the new era.
A conference of donors to help finance Burundi’s sixth
five-year economic and social development plan will be
organized in the near future. We believe that the
international community will give us its usual support and
that the resources necessary for implementation of the plan
will be forthcoming.
Moreover, the Government of Burundi will pursue the
structural adjustment programme, with the support of the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Development of the private sector will be encouraged, and
non-strategic public enterprises will be progressively
privatized, either in terms of property or in terms of
management.
Within the framework of liberalization of the Burundi
economy, the Government will reinforce the free-trade zone
for the purpose of diversifying exports. We invite investors
who are so inclined to come and operate in Burundi, where
the current political and social environment, the free-trade
zone and the investment code are very favourable to
business.
In the social and cultural field, we shall promote the
work ethic and ingenuity and, thereby, commit ourselves to
positive values, in keeping with our traditions and culture.
As we have already pointed out, democracy in Burundi
is a living reality that has to be consolidated. This new
political situation will change relations between Burundi and
its foreign partners. That is why, henceforth, my country’s
foreign policy will be based on the following guiding
principles: good-neighbourliness and effective cooperation;
non-interference in the affairs of other States; the
consolidation of peace through respect for and the promotion
of the rights and freedoms of the human person; mutually
advantageous international cooperation based on
interdependence and solidarity between peoples and nations;
regional integration against the background of the emergence
of free-trade zones in which there is no place for selfish
national purposes; and, finally, integration of the Burundi
economy into the world economy.
We believe that respect for these principles will not
only strengthen the determination of the Government of our
country to implement a foreign policy in keeping with the
demands of its domestic policy but also foster harmonious
relations with our foreign partners.
We realize that, without development, there can be no
healthy democracy. Democratization is therefore a
continuing process, a process that never ends - to the extent
that it is not enough to create or reform political institutions;
that it is especially necessary to resolve substantial problems,
particularly those related to health, nutrition, education,
housing and people’s general well-being.
Solutions must be found for these problems, but at the
same time we must confront challenges linked to them - for
example, population growth, the steady drop in the prices of
raw materials, the poor performance of our economies, the
weight of external debt, natural disasters and endemic
disease, especially malaria and AIDS, which have become a
real scourge, principally in Africa.
The survival of democracy on our continent will depend
on our achieving a just balance in international economic
relations. The security and stability that are indispensable if
sound democracy is to be guaranteed will remain under
threat so long as the problems of debt and hunger - in a
word: development - are not attacked head on.
The international community would therefore be failing
in its duty were it to permit the gap between the prosperous
countries of the North and the poor countries of the South to
Forty-eighth session - 4 October 1993 5
remain indefinitely. Thus, we appreciate the various
initiatives to reduce the burden of foreign debt on the
developing countries. We believe that economic recovery in
Africa will be achieved, in particular, when external debt is
substantially cancelled and additional financial resources
provided. Is it right that financial flows from the South to
the North should be greater than those from the North to the
South, as is the case today? This is a bitter reality, which
requires of us profound changes. Thus, the United Nations
must do all in its power to rethink cooperation machinery,
with a view to coming up with a solution that will reverse
the tendency towards the impoverishment of Africa in
particular.
Despite the problems we have just mentioned, we must
not allow ourselves to be discouraged. Our efforts at
democracy and development go hand in hand with a sincere
search for regional solidarity, in the first place, and then for
international solidarity. We know full well that, while
imposed choices are intolerable, it would be an aberration if
we were to fail to act together. It is by combining and
harmonizing their forces that States can make the best of
their advantages. Burundi must not stand aside from this
movement towards solidarity. In our subregion, Burundi
will commit itself to the promotion of various types of
cooperation with its neighbours.
We intend to strengthen existing instruments in the
context of that cooperation, such as the Economic
Community of the Great Lakes Countries, the Kagera River
Basin Organization and the Preferential Trade Area, with a
view to the gradual establishment of a free-trade zone. The
Government of Burundi will spare no effort to spark
subregional cooperation aimed at increased well-being for
our peoples.
It is high time that we in the third world engaged in
some self-examination. It is high time that we grew out of
looking only outwards. We must explore our own capacity
for self-development: development directed at ourselves and
maintained by ourselves. We must learn to plan and manage
better. Above all, we must learn to work better, to work
profitably: all of us, from the humblest peasant to the
loftiest dignitary. Africa is overflowing with wasted or
unexploited potential. We must contemplate a development
for ourselves, a development adapted to our needs and
making use of our assets. International solidarity can be
effective only in the radically new context where we take
responsibility for ourselves and where exchanges are
mutually advantageous.
The world is radically changing. Peoples aspire to
greater freedom and dignity. Mankind needs to make
enormous efforts to overcome the obstacles on its path:
poverty, war, famine, sickness, the destruction of the
environment, overpopulation. These are all challenges
facing our planet.
The detente and the will for peace that characterize
relations between the major Powers following the cold war
can make it possible to achieve global security,
understanding and cooperation; they affect the need for
political settlements of the conflicts that have broken out in
many parts of the world. Burundi advocates dialogue and
joint efforts to end disputes, and we can only welcome these
positive developments in international relations.
But internationally speaking we are at the turning point
between two eras. The era of the cold war and a bipolar
world has ended. But today the world is newly assailed, and
the inevitable seismic shock waves are shaking the global
village. Peoples and nations everywhere are seeking new
guidelines for building the new world order that has been so
late in coming.
Ancient rivalries we thought had been overcome are
again rising to the surface and are disturbing balances
achieved at great cost. On the threshold of the twenty-first
century, Europe has been jolted by separatist nationalism.
The plan to build a communal supranational political entity
is not exempt from the harsh test posed by the eruptions
taking place in the multinational States of the long-standing
democracies. The situation in the former Yugoslavia speaks
unfortunate volumes in this regard.
Africa is being undermined by areas of disturbing
destruction. It has been all the more marginalized since the
end of the division of the world into two blocs because it is
no longer a bargaining chip. Where else in the world are
there so many countries without State authority, without
social organization? Where else are there so many
fratricidal wars with no solution in view? Somalia, Liberia,
Angola, Mozambique and Rwanda are all loci of tension
where instability threatens Africa as a whole, as well as
world peace.
Burundi firmly supports the resolution of conflicts in
the framework of regional and subregional organizations.
Hence, we praise the efforts of the Organization of African
Unity (OAU) and subregional organizations in Africa to
arbitrate conflicts and help the parties to find negotiated
solutions to their disputes.
6 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
In connection with the prevention of conflicts and with
confidence- and security-building among the States of our
subregion, we have established a permanent consultative
committee on security questions in Central Africa, with the
cooperation of the United Nations. In the committee
meetings already held, a common determination has emerged
to establish a confidence-building machinery, and to limit
weapons in order to benefit the development and well-being
of the peoples of the subregion.
Moreover, Burundi welcomes United Nations action,
which despite many difficulties continues to play a role and
to achieve success. A recent example is that of Cambodia,
where a Government of National Unity has just been formed
after a long process carried out under United Nations
supervision. The United Nations is doing all it can to
restore order in Angola, Somalia and the former Yugoslavia.
We urge the United Nations to proceed on this path.
We hail the historic agreement recently signed at
Washington between the State of Israel and the Palestine
Liberation Organization. This development is an important
milestone in the settlement of the Palestinian problem.
Burundi attaches great significance to this event, which
without question will set its stamp on the end of the century.
Closer to home, in Rwanda, Burundi hails and supports
action taken by the United Nations in cooperation with the
Organization of African Unity to guarantee our Rwandese
brethren a climate favouring genuine national reconciliation.
The deployment of a neutral international force, as requested
by the two parties, should be arranged as quickly as
possible. Such a force is among the prerequisites for the
consolidation of peace in Rwanda, and hence throughout the
subregion - especially in Burundi, where similarities in
ethnic, linguistic and cultural matters place us in a delicate
position with respect to the Rwandese political conflict.
Burundi also welcomes the positive developments in the
situation in southern Africa. Negotiations under way among
the various political players in South Africa have already
produced encouraging results that are strengthening mutual
trust. The Government of Burundi was pleased by the
decision of the Conference for a Democratic South Africa
(CODESA) recognizing that Walvis Bay and the surrounding
area belong to Namibia. That decision marks the total
independence of Namibia and is in keeping with the
consolidation of peace in the region.
That is true also of the decision in South Africa to set
up a Transitional Executive Council open to all political
groups; this will lead to elections next year.
Burundi enthusiastically welcomes the recent events in
South Africa that enabled the historic leader of the African
National Congress of South Africa (ANC), Mr. Nelson
Mandela, to call for the lifting of economic sanctions against
his country. Burundi considers that those events are the
culmination of the first phase of a process that will lead to
the emergence in South Africa of a democratic regime free
of racial discrimination.
Burundi hopes that the Transitional Executive Council
will be able to complete negotiations on the transition to
democracy. That would open new prospects not only for
southern Africa but also for the entire continent, which in
recent years has followed with special attention the obstacles
preventing all the daughters and sons of Africa from
enjoying their national rights, thus compromising the entire
network of mutually advantageous relations that could be
developed between South Africa and the rest of the
continent.
Concerning the difficulties facing our Organization, it
is an open secret that we are facing financial adjustment
problems. The number of peace-keeping operations, the
frequency of special missions, the diversity and the
complexity of prevailing situations all call for greater
responsibility in the payment of assessments due the
Organization.
Burundi also encourages the current restructuring of the
United Nations system, which will allow it to measure up to
the numerous new tasks awaiting it and enable it to have an
image which is a true mirror of the present world.
Our country praises the exceptional courage and selfdenial demonstrated by the staff of the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It goes without
saying that refugees and displaced persons endure the most
painful sufferings because of conflicts. The United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees constantly gives them hope
by providing them with the basic necessities.
Burundi, as a country that has been sheltering refugees
but that also has citizens of its own living in exile, can
testify today to its convictions and achievements on the
question of refugees. We are convinced that only the
repatriation and reinstallation of refugees and displaced
persons can remedy the problem, which has become
worldwide in scope and difficult to overcome.
We would be remiss not to congratulate the
non-governmental organizations of the world, which, through
Forty-eighth session - 4 October 1993 7
their actions, have lessened the suffering of millions of men,
women and children in distress.
In order to be lasting and irreversible, the democratic
reforms chosen by our populations must have international
support, because, indeed, democracy against a backdrop of
social unrest, unemployment and poverty runs the risk of
being just a caricature.
From this rostrum, in the same way that we called on
the international community to witness our democratic
institutions, we would like to ask it to support our efforts
through international cooperation based on interdependence
and solidarity among peoples and nations.
The economic situation in the world today constitutes
for us a subject of deep concern. The developed countries
have been hit by a recession, and it is not easy to overcome
it. After years of more or less favourable economic
conditions, growth in their economies is now slowing down.
Short-term projections are not very encouraging either.
Unemployment has reached disturbing proportions, thereby
causing a resurgence here and there of xenophobia and
micronationalism, victims of which are for the most part
foreigners who have become true scapegoats for the ills that
are distressing the societies in the developed countries.
The developing world is the most severely affected in
terms of the well-being of its population. While South-East
Asia and Latin America have positive economic indicators,
we must note that Africa is going through a difficult period
and that the stakes are high. The drop in export earnings,
linked to the undervaluing of raw materials, weighs heavily
upon the external debt that today so hinders the freedom of
action of most African countries. The outlook for recovery
and growth in the short term will likely remain bleak for the
African continent.
We would like to recall, however, that there have been
delays in the implementation of the New Agenda for the
Development of Africa in the 1990s, adopted by the General
Assembly two years ago. Similarly, progress achieved in
implementing the New Agenda for the 1990s in favour of
the least-developed countries is still not up to the
expectations of our populations.
The International Conference on African Development
is currently being held in Tokyo. We sincerely thank the
organizers of that meeting, especially the Government of
Japan. We wish that Conference success, and we also hope
that it will lead to concrete commitments on the part of the
donors to help us recover and to develop on the basis of our
own needs and priorities. Burundi is represented in Tokyo
at a high level, and it will make its contribution to achieving
the goals of that Conference.
Obstacles to healthy international economic cooperation
are still numerous and of many kinds. The external debt
crisis remains a major hindrance to the recovery of our
economies. The main creditors must make greater efforts to
ease the weight of this debt, the servicing of which is a
heavy burden on the meagre export earnings of our
developing countries. At this time, we would like to express
our deep gratitude to friendly countries which have already
undertaken measures - or are in the process of so doing - to
reduce or cancel the debt which we owe them. We ask them
to take relevant measures to give a strong boost to
development financing, the drying up of which concerns us.
In this regard, Burundi places great hope in traditional
sources of financing, the funds for which have been
increased. But we also place great hopes in the Global
Environment Facility. Our delegation would like from this
rostrum to repeat the need for rapid conclusion to the
negotiations on the restructuring of that fund so that it may
reflect its true world calling with regard to its composition
and to transparent management and democratic management
in its functioning. Similarly, it is also important for the
Commission on Sustainable Development to move from
rhetoric to an operational phase.
The series of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT) negotiations ought to have been concluded in 1991,
but they continue to run up against a number of
disagreements which are causing major concern in the world
economy, in particular with respect to the future of the
multilateral trading system. We urgently appeal to the
principal protagonists to show political will sufficient to
bring about a favourable ending to the Uruguay Round. The
international community would in no way benefit from a
trade war. There would be no winner and no loser in that
war.
Each year the United Nations enjoys greater
participation at the level of Heads of State and Government.
This is due to the fact that they firmly believe in the
irreplaceable role of this Organization in respect of the
balance and functioning of the world. We firmly believe in
this Organization, and therefore we permit ourselves the
liberty of hoping for the promotion of international
cooperation which takes account of the diversity of each
country and which is committed to complementary actions
with shared and fully assumed responsibility.
8 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
The United Nations indeed is an Organization of
powerful countries and weaker countries. Here, therefore,
we find the principles of justice, transparency and solidarity
in international affairs as something which must be
respected, so that no State need feel excluded or bullied
because of its size. Rather, each State should feel protected
against insecurity and arbitrariness, against hunger, against
poverty, against epidemics of all kinds.
It is true, and we strongly emphasize this, that the
weaker countries must not always put forward their
weakness as a pretext to demand or to call for protection or
assistance from the international community. They too must
take charge of their own destinies. They must organize
themselves in such a way that the United Nations or other
organizations would intervene only to give them support for
a self-centred and self-supported development programme.
It is our deepest wish that this world Organization that
we share would continue to pursue its ideals and to achieve
its goals. We would wish that international solidarity might
be a genuine reality and that the relations among States
might henceforth be based on a more just and more
equitable economic and political order.
It is our hope to see our Organization help the poorest
populations on our planet avoid hunger, poverty and wars.
Long live the United Nations!
Long live international solidarity!