It is my great pleasure and
honour to address the General Assembly at its fifty-
eighth session. At the outset, allow me, Sir, to extend
my sincere congratulations on your election and to
wish you every success in presiding over the Assembly
at this session.
Even though we entered the new millennium with
clear resolve to work for a better future, sharing a
vision of global solidarity and common security, which
we expressed in the Millennium Declaration, we are
witnessing an increase in tragic events, which occur
almost daily. The tragedy that took place on 19 August
in Baghdad is forcing us to reconsider the true
accomplishments and values of civilization today and
to re-examine the connections between poverty,
development, self-sustainability, respect for human
rights and the quest for true progress, as enshrined in
the United Nations Charter.
Fully aware of all the global challenges facing us,
we must prepare for a long and exhausting
campaign   working step by step and tackling one
problem at a time   for poverty reduction and the
development of underdeveloped countries, and against
the scourge of terrorism, organized crime and the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, wherever
such threats arise.
The world is yet again faced with new challenges.
The United Nations have yet again to make crucial
2

decisions in response to them. Poverty, weapons
proliferation and AIDS are among the most
destabilizing factors on the international scene, as is
terrorism. I am sincerely convinced, therefore, that this
year's debate on all these issues, especially on the issue
of terrorism, will pave the way towards a consensus
among Member States on the specific measures to be
taken and thus invest the United Nations with new
authority, which is so urgently needed to counter
threats to international peace, health, stability and
collective security.
Allow me to take this opportunity to stress the
importance of dialogue to resolve the most pressing
issues of today. Dialogue is essential and, it goes
without saying, only possible among those who are
ready for it. Dialogue based on mutual respect
represents a key instrument for the improvement of
relations and cooperation among peoples and countries.
It is a fundamental condition for the successful
outcome of negotiations and reconciliation of
differences to reach decisions that are acceptable to all
sides.
We in Bosnia and Herzegovina have learned the
value of dialogue the hard way. Consider our recent
past, during which the lack of dialogue caused
misunderstanding, conflicts and hostilities that resulted
in the tragic loss of human life, the exodus of young
people and the devastation of the economy over the
past decade. The entire international community not
only witnessed this tragedy but was called on to be
actively involved to overcome it.
I can only feel proud that I am addressing the
Assembly today as the head of State of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, which the international community no
longer views as a crisis area. Rather, it has become a
State that actively participates in stabilization
processes in the region and throughout the world. From
the Central European Initiative and the South East
European Cooperation Process to United Nations
peacekeeping operations, Bosnia and Herzegovina is
contributing to regional, European and world peace and
prosperity. At the same time, committed to reforms, we
strive to lay the ground for overcoming the aftermath
of recent conflicts and are devoted to respect for the
human rights of all individuals and peoples, as well as
their cultural, religious and other diversities.
I would like to point out that the authorities of
Bosnia and Herzegovina are giving priority to
advancing the political and economic stability of the
country and enhancing its international role through the
implementation of planned reforms. I am convinced
that we in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in partnership-like
cooperation with the High Representative and other
representatives of the United Nations and international
institutions, will find the best solutions for the
implementation of reforms and the most adequate legal
solutions for the realization of a faster economic
development of the country and the creation of real
chances for the integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina
into the European Union.
In the process of Bosnia and Herzegovina's
accession to European integration, we have just
completed discussions with the European Commission
(EC) within the framework of the feasibility study.
Working on the EC's tasks has been a positive
experience in building partnerships with the
international community. We are now entering a new
phase with full confidence, convinced that the initiated
process will result in the final fulfilment of all
conditions for membership in the European Union
(EU). This comes as a result of the decision of the
Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities to take their
destiny into their own hands and to respond to major
challenges such as the fight against organized crime
and corruption, the strengthening of institutions,
conducting legal system reforms, implementation of
structural reforms and reduction of the unemployment
rate.
We are committed to following the path of proven
success strategies in order to overcome as soon as
possible our difficult heritage from the past and to start
building, with mutual understanding, a modern Bosnia
and Herzegovina. Only in this way may we pass on to
future generations the message of worldwide peace and
development, based on mutual understanding and
tolerance.
This year Bosnia and Herzegovina took over the
chairmanship of the South East European Cooperation
Process. We are content with the positive steps taken,
both in the stabilization and in the overall development
of the Balkan region and integration of the Western
Balkans into the Euro-Atlantic structures. I am pleased
that mutually harmonized agreements and joint
priorities are being fully supported by the EU, by the
Stability Pact, by many friendly countries in the world
and by international financial and other organizations. I
am all the more pleased in view of the fact that the
3

countries of the region confirm their readiness and
commitments to mutual cooperation and the building of
good neighbourly and regional relations.
I must stress the fact that there are still many
open issues and incomplete tasks in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. I am convinced that Bosnia and
Herzegovina will succeed in the process of
strengthening joint institutions and in establishing a
strong legal framework. We are committed to fulfil all
Bosnia and Herzegovina's international obligations,
particularly those related to cooperation with the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia, participation in the world's fight against
organized crime, respect of human rights, return of
refugees and displaced persons, full implementation of
property laws and the return of property to its rightful
owners.
Our absolute priority is the fight against terrorism
and organized crime, and, at the international level, we
are of the view that the United Nations and the Security
Council should play the leading role in that fight.
Together with other countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina
intends to actively tackle this issue, which represents a
threat to the entire civilized world. Fully committed to
this fight, we in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the
assistance of the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, which successfully completed its mission
last December, have established one of the most
modern state border services. In addition, we have
improved the legal framework and we are fighting
actively against the trafficking of women and children,
this modern form of slavery. Our efforts have recently
been recognized by the United States Government, and
as result, we have been moved to category B.
The issue of missing persons is particularly
sensitive and difficult for Bosnia and Herzegovina. We
have to make additional efforts, with the assistance of
the international community, to at least give the
opportunity to grieving families to discover the
whereabouts of their loved ones, what happened to
them, where they were buried, and to identify their
remains and lay them to rest with dignity.
Allow me to point out that Bosnia and
Herzegovina is now a much better place for business
than it was a year ago, due to the reforms completed
during this year in particular. I would like to mention
the example of the Bulldozer Committee that redrafted
50 laws and regulations that were discouraging private
initiative and suffocating any sense for business.
Having created a more favourable legal framework and
business environment, Bosnia and Herzegovina has
become a better place for investment opportunities and
employment.
Nevertheless, we must not lie back, we must
further accelerate the process of economic reforms.
The continuation of the privatization process and
further reforms of the judicial system are of utmost
importance for creating a more secure business
environment in order to open the country to direct
foreign investments.
We are in the process of rearranging and
simplifying the tax system through the establishment of
a single custom system and a value-added tax, thus
eliminating corruption and white-collar crime. In order
to encourage the entire process of the creation of an
investment-friendly environment in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, in February 2004 we will be hosting an
international investment conference in Mostar, where
we will present the new economic situation in Bosnia
and Herzegovina.

Furthermore, particularly during recent days, we
have been finalizing the reforms of the armed forces
and the State intelligence service, having realized that a
modern security system is a pre-condition for Bosnia
and Herzegovina's full participation in common
security arrangements, through membership in the
Partnership for Peace and the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization.
At this moment we attach paramount importance
to reforms and the modernization of the educational
system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is our firm belief
that, by caring for the individual and by ensuring the
collective right to get an education in one's own
language and alphabet, we will enhance mutual
dialogue and tolerance, in order to preserve the
multicultural society of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Next year we also plan to finalize the
reconstruction of the Old Bridge in Mostar, where we
are planning once again to celebrate the reunion of
both banks of the river and its people. This is our way
of sending a global message to all civilizations: this
bridge is built of versatile cultural materials, it is an
alloy of various traditions and it is the paradigm of a
4

solution that is possible and evident despite the
conflicts and differences in the world. I hereby invite
you to make use of this opportunity and make this
bridge a symbol of unity for the next year.
Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina were held
almost a year ago. This time, the international
community fully supported the election results. The
international community expressed its readiness to
support democratic processes in Bosnia and
Herzegovina and we, the elected authorities, have made
our choice through reforms that have as their aim a
modern Bosnia and Herzegovina.
We are committed to taking ownership, to bearing
more responsibilities. During his 16 months in office,
the High Representative imposed in the first eight
months twice as many laws as he did in the second. We
are pleased to note the trend of reduction of imposed
laws this year, but our ultimate goal is a Bosnia and
Herzegovina that is a member of the EU. This Bosnia
and Herzegovina has its destiny in the hands of its own
citizens and is on the road of no return towards
European integration, with more power in the engine of
its own institutions and less power in the tow truck of
the United Nations High Representative. Above all,
this Bosnia and Herzegovina has a constitution cut out
to the measure of its peoples and to each and every
citizen.
Allow me to conclude by looking into the future.
We have presented our candidature for membership in
the Security Council for 2010, reaffirming our
commitment to build a State that may share its positive
experience and participate actively in the world's
peace-building, by that time, we hope, within the
system of a reformed and reinvigorated United Nations.
We are already participating in the United Nations
peacekeeping operations in Ethiopia and Eritrea, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and Timor-Leste.
We are ready to send our transport unit, military
observers and civilian police officers to Liberia.
By the year 2009, we are planning to fulfil the
conditions set forth for EU membership, fully
committed to the development of Bosnia and
Herzegovina based on stability, the rule of law,
democracy and a market economy. We are gradually
becoming recognized for our implementation of
democratic and economic reforms and for harmonizing
our priorities with international standards. Next year,
from 15 to 17 May 2004 in Sarajevo, we are planning
to host the Second Intergovernmental Conference for
Children in Europe and Central Asia, together with the
Government of Germany and the United Nations
Children's Fund. The Conference is the continuation of
regional consultations held in Berlin in 2001, and the
2002 General Assembly special session devoted to
children.
Today, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a sustainable
State, albeit with the generous contributions and
assistance from the international community, the
United Nations and its most prominent leading figures,
including the late Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, who will
be remembered in Bosnia and Herzegovina as the head
of Civil Affairs of the United Nations mission. We
remain ever so grateful to those who lent us their hands
in times of need and despair.
Today, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a State well on
its way to being part of Europe, with the ambition to
create an environment where the return of refugees and
displaced persons will not be halted for political or
economic reasons, but will be encouraged for reasons
of economic prosperity and sustainability that will be
achieved through the efforts of all of us.


I
would like to express my cordial congratulations to the
President for presiding over this important session of
the General Assembly. I wish also to express my
congratulations to other members of the Bureau on
their election.
Less than 60 years ago, our founding fathers
established the United Nations, with the aspiration to
promote peace and security through cooperation and to
make our world a better place. The creation of this
Organization was in fact the manifestation of the
international community's determination to prevent the
scourge of war, which had inflicted tremendous loss
and damage upon humankind. The United Nations was
also designed to promote economic, social and human
development and assist Member States to eradicate
injustice and poverty.
These objectives and concerns remain as valid as
ever and perhaps are even more relevant today. We
believe it is time to take stock of recent developments
and the utility and record of the United Nations, with a
view to promoting the authority, efficiency and
effectiveness of the United Nations, and recognizing its
central role in addressing the challenges of our time.
The United States waged an unsanctioned war
against Iraq with three expressed objectives: to find
weapons of mass destruction, to fight international
terrorism and to bring democracy to the Iraqi people.
The first is yet to be realized. The second has
backfired. And, as far as the third is concerned, the
collapse of a dictatorship is a highly welcome
development in the region, but, as history has shown,
social change, including the democratization of a
society, can only be brought about from within, and
cannot be imported in tandem with tank columns. In
our view, callous indifference to the negative
28

consequences of the invasion of Iraq to the conduct of
international relations and a lack of full understanding
of the post-war situation in Iraq, particularly the social
and the cultural complexities of Iraqi society, have
created both an international predicament and a source
of instability at our borders.
As a neighbouring State, Iran adopted a policy of
self-restraint during the war in Iraq and has continued
to adopt a constructive approach to the current situation
in that country by calling on the occupying Powers to
allow the immediate transfer of Iraqi sovereignty to the
Iraqi people and to withdraw their troops. We welcome
and support the establishment of the Iraqi Governing
Council and the Council of Ministers and call for
granting a central and clear-cut role to the United
Nations in the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty and the
constitutional process. We wish to promote unity and
greater respect for stability and security among various
ethnic and religious groups in Iraq, and encourage and
support the swift setting in motion of a constitutional
and institutional process, with a view to establishing a
democratic and fully representative Government by and
for the people of Iraq. We urge respect for the national
unity, independence and territorial integrity of Iraq and
the provision of relief emergency assistance to the
people of Iraq.
Pending the restoration of sovereignty and
authority to the people of Iraq, the occupying Powers
have the legal responsibility under applicable
international law to provide for the welfare of the
people under occupation, particularly their security. In
this context, the United Nations should be allowed to
play a central role in laying the ground work, on an
urgent basis, in assisting the Iraqi people to establish a
democratic and representative Government and in
supervising the transfer of authority to them. The
international community, in general, and Iraq's
neighbours, in particular, will undoubtedly lend their
full support to the United Nations in this endeavour.
I would like to express once again my
condolences to the Secretary-General and the United
Nations community as a whole for the loss of a brave
servant of the nations, Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, and
other United Nations personnel in the terrorist bombing
of the United Nations headquarters in Iraq. The people
and Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran also
sympathize with the people of Iraq over the loss of
another man of peace, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-
Hakim, in a separate terrorist bombing in Iraq.
The violence against and the killing of innocent
Palestinian people by the Israeli Army have become a
daily occurrence, and prospects for a viable peace are
steadily diminishing. The Palestinian people live under
brutal occupation and oppression with no hope for
relief, let alone peace and prosperity. The policy of the
Sharon Government of reoccupying Palestinian cities
and using military force to further terrorize the
Palestinian people has exacerbated the situation and
added to the despair and frustration of ordinary people.
The international community has a major responsibility
to take effective measures in alleviating the suffering
of the Palestinian people.
The recent decision of the Israeli regime to expel
President Arafat from his homeland has outraged the
international community, in general, and the Muslim
world, in particular. I am confident that the free and
civilized world will continue to reject and condemn
such a move by Israel. It is regrettable that the United
States, last week, once again and for the thirty-sixth
time, resorted to the veto to block the adoption of a
draft resolution.
On behalf of the people and the Government of
the Islamic Republic of Iran, I wish to take this
opportunity to express our satisfaction over the steady
improvement of the situation in Afghanistan under the
leadership of President Karzai and his Government. At
the same time, we are concerned about problems such
as the regrouping of remnants of the Taliban and Al
Qaeda, the paucity of international assistance and the
increase in opium poppy cultivation. Unless the
international community is more forthcoming in
assisting the Afghan people and Government, recent
achievements in Afghanistan may be jeopardized.
We have a great stake in the return of full
normality and stability to Afghanistan. In this area, we
have strongly supported the central role of the United
Nations in helping the Afghans to rebuild their own
country, and we believe that the United Nations should
continue to play this role for the foreseeable future.
Terrorism is a global phenomenon that requires a
global response. Fighting terrorism requires a
multifaceted approach that goes well beyond a simple
focus on law and order and also addresses its
underlying causes. A unilateral and one-dimensional
approach, based merely on the use of force, may
neutralize some threats and bring some psychological
comfort to those who seek revenge in response to
29

terrorist acts, but few would regard that as a serious
methods of uprooting international terrorism.
Any attempt to link terrorism to a specific
religion or culture is prejudicial, politically motivated
and thus unacceptable. No religion authorizes its
adherents to kill innocent people, whatever the
objective of such acts might be.
The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns terrorism
in all its forms and manifestations. Iran has done more
than its fair share to effectively combat terrorism. In
the heat of the military intervention in Afghanistan and
in the wake of the Taliban collapse, thousands of
individuals were denied entry into Iran; more than
2,300 individuals with false or no travel documents
were deported and hundreds of suspects were arrested,
interrogated and handed over to their countries of
nationality or residence; and lists of such persons were
brought to the attention of the relevant United Nations
officials and bodies. Iran continues to cooperate in
serious and long-term efforts to combat terrorism in a
comprehensive, non-discriminatory and non-selective
manner   efforts that do not pick and choose between
good and bad, or useful, terrorists.
Weapons of mass destruction are among the most
potent threats to peace and security at the regional and
global levels. The Chemical Weapons Convention,
Biological Weapons Convention and the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) are the
results of our collective wisdom in our efforts to
eliminate the threat of chemical and biological
weapons and the spread of nuclear weapons. We
believe that more needs to be done. We should do more
to make these basic international instruments universal.
We should also do more to strengthen verification of
their implementation. Finally, we should all work
collectively, as mandated by the International Court of
Justice, to move towards the total elimination of
nuclear weapons.
By adhering to all of these three instruments as an
original party, my country has shown its determination
to work towards the complete eradication of weapons
of mass destruction from the Earth. Our commitment to
international regimes on weapons of mass destruction
lies not merely in our contractual obligations but, more
importantly, in our religious convictions and historical
experience. No country has suffered as acutely as mine
from the tragic scars left from being victims of such
weapons, particularly against the backdrop of a
complacent international environment. We are
convinced that the pursuit of nuclear weapons and
other weapons of mass destruction will not only fail to
provide deterrence or enhance security and influence,
but will only increase vulnerability. Thus, I can state
categorically that for all these reasons, weapons of
mass destruction have no place in the defensive
strategy of my country. We believe the only option is to
work actively towards a global and regional ban on
these weapons, and we have thus spared no effort in
this regard.
However, the efforts to ban, or strengthen the
ban, on weapons of mass destruction should not
provide any excuse for denying States the right to
develop technology for peaceful purposes.
Unfortunately, the political pressure against the Islamic
Republic of Iran to relinquish its inalienable right to
develop peaceful nuclear technology is mounting,
while some nuclear weapon States continue to test and
develop advanced tactical nuclear weapons
programmes. Furthermore, in defiance of international
calls to adhere to the NPT, Israel is continuing, with
impunity, its clandestine development of sophisticated
nuclear weapons and their delivery systems. All NPT
Review and Extension conferences have called for the
suspension and freezing of Israel's tactical weapons
and nuclear programmes, which are the real threats to
international peace and security. They are both
considered to be in contravention with the letter and
spirit of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Iran's nuclear programme is solely for peaceful
purposes, specifically for the planned production of
7,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020 for Iran's
economic development. Iran will vigorously pursue its
peaceful nuclear programme and will not give in to
unreasonable, discriminatory and selective demands
that go beyond the requirements of non-proliferation
under existing International Atomic Energy Agency
instruments. At the same time, Iran does not have a
nuclear weapons programme, nor does it intend to
embark on one. Thus, we have nothing to hide, and in
principle have no problem with the Additional Protocol.
We are eager to ensure that this step will be utilized
solely to enhance confidence and remove all doubts
about the peaceful nature of our nuclear programme.

In facing global challenges, no possibility other
than mutual cooperation through the United Nations
will be conducive to lasting and effective solutions.
The democratic process advocated at all levels within
the international community needs also to be reflected
within the United Nations system. The General
Assembly should play a more active role in global
affairs. A more representative and democratic Security
Council would mean a more efficient United Nations
  the kind of organization we should all want and
work for.


Mr. President, my
delegation congratulates you on your assumption of
this high office. We are confident that, given your vast
experience and consummate diplomatic skill, you will
be able to successfully manage the proceedings of this
session of the General Assembly. I also wish to express
our appreciation for the excellent and effective manner
in which your predecessor, Mr. Jan Kavan, conducted
the work of the fifty-seventh session. In the same vein,
I would like to commend the Secretary-General for his
efforts to strengthen the role of the United Nations in
resolving the world’s burning issues.
Allow me also to pay tribute to the international
workers who have recently given their lives in service
to the United Nations in Iraq. In particular, we reiterate
our condolences to the Secretary-General and the
Organization for the tragic death of Sergio Vieira de
Mello, that outstanding servant of the United Nations.
As we condemn terrorism and violence in all their
forms and manifestations, we honour the memory of
Anna Lindh, the slain Foreign Minister of Sweden,
who dedicated her life to the pursuit of peace,
development and social progress.
We appear here before this Assembly every year
to renew our vow to the United Nations as the main
guarantor of international peace and security. The
speeches that we deliver here are a distilled expression
of our collective passion for and conviction about the
ideals that the United Nations stands for.
Yet, at times, as was the case with the war on
Iraq, the United Nations gets sidelined and the unique
legitimacy of its authority undermined through
unilateral actions. Such actions produced a general
feeling of fear and uncertainty, especially among the
small and weak nations of the world. This is why the
central theme that runs through nearly all the speeches
at this session is the call for a return to multilateral
dialogue, persuasion and collective action as the only
appropriate approach to resolving the many conflicts
facing the international community. Being a small
country, Namibia echoes this call. Multilateralism must
be the basis of global security, if smaller countries are
not to feel that they are at the mercy of stronger ones.
But, as recent events have demonstrated, big Powers,
like the smaller ones, also need a multilateral
framework as a more reassuring environment for the
execution of foreign policy.
We cannot fail to re-emphasize the inseparable
link between international security and economic
development. Therefore, the Organization must uphold
the commitments made in the field of economic
development, especially the important pledges made at
the Millennium Summit and contained in the
Millennium Declaration.
In that Declaration, world leaders committed
themselves to help lift half of the world’s poor out of
misery and deprivation by the year 2015. We are
talking here of 1.5 billion people around the world who
10

are today victims of abject poverty and 800 million
who are starving. Still more, we are talking about the
900 million adults worldwide who are illiterate.
The tragedy is that this human misery is acquiring
deepening and broadening dimensions at a time when
human ingenuity is ever enlarging the horizons of
possibilities of doing away with this terrible scourge of
extreme poverty and deprivation. Clearly, therefore, the
implementation of the Millennium Declaration is a race
against time. Failure to act now, and to do so with a
sense of urgency, will mean that we, especially the rich
of this world, have failed to rise to the moral and
political challenge, which is to protect that most sacred
of all human rights, the right to life.
Namibia is fully committed to the implementation
of the Millennium Declaration. To this end, we allocate
23 per cent of our annual national budget to education
and 15 per cent to health. In this commitment to invest
in our people, we have proceeded from the premise that
a fundamental way to address the problem of poverty is
to improve the productive competitiveness of our
economy, and that improving that competitiveness is
dependant on the rapid increase in the knowledge,
skills and capacities of the people, with a view to
empowering them to be able to escape from the trap of
poverty. Skills in the field of information technology
are a critical element of our human resources
development programme.
The other urgent challenge, spelled out in the
Millennium Declaration, is the fight against the AIDS
pandemic. Namibia is devoting considerable resources
and attention to this seemingly daunting battle to
contain the spread and limit the impact of this epidemic
on our society. In this effort, we are working with other
countries, relevant United Nations agencies, the private
sector and members of civil society. In the context of
this battle, the plight of AIDS orphans is given priority.
However, there is a need for more generous
contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria.
In the pursuit of Millennium Development Goals,
Namibia is, furthermore, working closely with its
partners in the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) to implement a number of key
regional projects. One of these is a major power
project, involving the power utilities of Angola,
Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
South Africa and Namibia.
Similarly, Namibia, together with Angola,
Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, has embarked on
one of the world’s largest regional wildlife
conservation and tourism development projects. The
geographical scope of this area cuts across the
territories of all five countries and covers
approximately 278,000 square kilometres.
We would like, therefore, to reassure the
Secretary-General that Namibia has, indeed, started in
earnest on the implementation of the Millennium
Declaration and is staying the course. However, as I
said earlier, there is still a great need for additional
resources so that we can intensify our efforts aimed at
development and poverty eradication.
For more than a decade now, the overwhelming
majority of Member States, including Namibia, have
been calling for the reform of the institutions of the
Organization, especially the Security Council.
At the time of the founding of the United Nations
in 1945, the Organization consisted of only 51 Member
States. That number has now grown to 191 sovereign
States. But the structure of the United Nations has
remained in some respects unchanged.
The Security Council needs to become
democratic and more representative — allowing other
regions and States to be represented. There is a broad
consensus that by making it a democratic body, and
more representative, we would give the Security
Council greater legitimacy and that that, in turn, would
mean more effective United Nations machinery.
This call for reform is in line with the principle of
democratic governance so often demanded of the
developing countries by, among others, some of the
Powers that occupy permanent seats in the Security
Council.
We welcome the fact that the Secretary-General
has taken on board the reform of the United Nations,
and that it is one of the higher priorities on his agenda.
We have noted with great interest his plan to set up a
panel of eminent personalities to look into the reform
process and recommend ways of effecting such a
reform.
One of the issues that underlines the need for the
urgent reform of the Security Council is the pathetic
inability of that organ to bring the authority of the
United Nations to bear on the situation in the Middle
East. The unrelenting carnage that is taking place in

that region has not compelled the Powers that be to
accept the fact that that situation constitutes a threat to
international peace and security. Because of a lack of
political will in the Security Council, there has been no
ability to act collectively to put a stop to the carnage.
The continued occupation of the Palestinian
territory exacerbates frustration and despair among the
Palestinians. It follows, therefore, that the end of the
occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian State,
existing side by side with Israel, is key to peace and
stability in that region.
The implementation of the Security Council’s
plan for Western Sahara would have closed the chapter
on decolonization in Africa. The right of the people of
Western Sahara to self-determination and independence
is a Charter obligation that we cannot shirk.
We hail the efforts of the Economic Community
of West African States in Liberia and welcome the
establishment of the United Nations Mission in that
country. Guided by our commitment to African
solidarity and given the resolve of the African Union to
contribute to the maintenance of international peace
and security, Namibia has decided to contribute troops
to the United Nations Mission in Liberia.
Geographic proximity is not a matter of choice.
We abhor the continued imposition of the United States
embargo against the people of Cuba, and call on the
international community to demand the immediate
lifting of that embargo.
In conclusion, I would like to stress the vital
importance of international cooperation by all
stakeholders in our effort to realize the Millennium
Development Goals. In order to reduce the scourge of
poverty and underdevelopment, developing countries
need access to the markets of developed countries.
There is, therefore, an urgent need to overcome
the impasse which has developed as result of the
failure of the World Trade Organization Ministerial
Conference at Cancún. We need to emphasize that
urgent need. We call on the developed countries to
demonstrate a spirit of compromise in line with their
undertakings at the Millennium Summit.
Furthermore the implementation of the decisions
taken at the Monterrey Conference on Financing for
Development must not be allowed to become a dead
letter. The promise made by world leaders at the
Millennium Summit to give globalization a human face
should also be given practical expression.
In short, the vision of a bright and prosperity-
enhancing new Millennium must not be allowed to
become a mirage or a dream that could not be realized.


It is with a deep sense of
pride and pleasure that my delegation congratulates
you, Sir, on your unanimous election to the presidency
of the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session. You
have done the entire Caribbean region proud. Your own
country, Saint Lucia, one of the smallest States
Members of this Organization, can feel especially
proud. We are confident that, given the combination of
your vast experience, solid leadership skills and
charismatic personality, this session will go down in
history as one of the most dynamic and constructive for
all States, large and small.
My delegation pays tribute to your illustrious
predecessor, Mr. Jan Kavan of the Czech Republic, for
his enlightened and innovative conduct of this body
during the previous session.
My delegation also expresses profound sympathy
to the Government and the people of Saint Lucia on the
recent passing of your predecessor, Sir, as Minister for
Foreign Affairs, The Honourable George Odlum.
Each succeeding President of the General
Assembly inherits an agenda of recurring resolutions
and outcome documents adopted at the many
international summit-level conferences during the past
4

decade. My delegation remains confident that your
administration, Sir, will put implementation concerns
high on the development agenda.
When the United Nations was founded 58 years
ago, the focus was basically on world peace and
security in the aftermath of the devastating effects of
the Second World War. Security concerns have once
again taken centre stage in current international affairs,
but they should not displace the consideration of
important issues on the economic and social agenda.
My Government remains totally committed to the
global fight against terrorism and the perpetrators of
violence. In this regard, it will certainly take all
necessary actions to ensure that Grenada is an active
partner in this common struggle.
The proliferation of transnational criminal
activities is the most vivid example of the negative
effect of open borders in a globalized world. The illicit
trade in weapons and drugs, money-laundering and
trafficking in women and children clearly need to be
tackled in a more organized manner. A truly effective
global response to these and other threats requires that
all States act in concert with each other. In this regard,
my Government, despite its limited resources, is
fulfilling its commitment.
Since the events of 11 September 2001, Grenada
has ratified or acceded to all relevant international
treaties and conventions on terrorism and related
activities. All the appropriate domestic legislation has
been enacted.
My delegation is convinced that the elimination
of terrorism alone will not guarantee social and
economic stability. It will not solve the many problems
associated with underdevelopment, poverty, hunger,
disease, illiteracy, and unemployment — all of which
give rise to hopelessness and pose a threat to peace and
security.
The holding of the recent meeting here at the
United Nations to assess the implementation of the
Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS made clear
that the pandemic is continuing to take a heavy toll,
especially in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean.
As the many leaders who took part in the debate
said, much remains to be done in the fight against this
dreadful scourge if the Declaration of Commitment
target is to be met by 2005. Thus, certain critical areas
in this fight, such as education on prevention and care
targeted especially to young people, mobilization of
resources by engaging civil society including the
business sector, and access to affordable medicine are
absolutely essential.
Fighting HIV/AIDS is both a medical and a socio-
economic problem, with far-reaching implications for
small developing countries such as my own. Caring for
the ever-increasing numbers with the virus, together
with educating and sensitizing the general public on
prevention issues and responsible behaviour, has
become burdensome, in terms of both human and
financial resources. Partnership and support from the
developed countries will be welcomed.
My delegation is convinced that the eradication
of poverty and its related ills is central to social and
economic stability. Poverty will not simply disappear
through passionate pleas and eloquent statements, but
through genuine collaborative and cooperative efforts.
My Government is acutely aware of our responsibility,
as a sovereign and independent nation to provide for
our citizens.
The efforts of the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) to establish a single market and economy
with a view to harnessing and efficiently utilizing the
limited resources of the region, improving
competitiveness, productivity and general cooperation,
must be applauded.
The more developed countries must speedily
come to the rescue of the needy developing countries
by providing tangible and meaningful technical,
economic and other forms of assistance — assistance
that will have a positive impact on the lives of millions
in the developing world.
It is for this reason that we will continue to
clamour for reforms within the global trading system,
and especially within the framework of the World
Trade Organization (WTO), particularly as it relates to
trade in agriculture and in other services.
My delegation calls for a substantial reduction of
the subsidies afforded to farmers in the more developed
and industrialized economies, and also for the removal
of non-tariff and other technical barriers to the export
of our commodities.
In our efforts to diversify our economies and to
enhance our revenue-earning options, we need the
flexibility to develop our service sector free from
pressures and conditionalities, to add value to our
5

primary products, and to be able to export our exotic
fruits and vegetables.
Our small and vulnerable economies can become
viable if the right conditions are created to facilitate the
trade of our products on the world market.
The failure of the recently concluded WTO
Ministerial Meeting in Cancún, Mexico, to reach a
compromise on issues of extreme importance is a cause
for concern. The outcome has confirmed, in
unequivocal terms, that the divide between rich and
poor nations continues to widen.
My country endorses the idea that the United
Nations must continue its work to ensure that
democracy and respect for basic human rights prevail
in all civil societies. However, this body should, as a
matter of principle, also seek to ensure that fair, just
and morally correct actions and decisions are taken on
equally important matters.
The people of the Republic of Cuba continue to
live under a unilaterally imposed financial, commercial
and economic blockade, as they have for more than 40
years. This has resulted in great human and material
losses, and in many personal traumatic experiences.
Grenada joins the overwhelming majority in the United
Nations and calls for the unconditional lifting of those
sanctions.
We believe that universally accepted norms and
values and economic growth and prosperity can
flourish only under normal circumstances. The people
of Cuba need that chance.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to
escalate, and every effort must be made to return to the
road map, as it remains the best hope for the resolution
of the problem.
Similarly, my delegation is concerned about the
negative effect of civil unrest and tensions around the
globe, particularly in Iraq, Liberia and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. My Government supports all
efforts, actions and initiatives to ensure that normalcy
returns to the countries and regions concerned. We urge
patience, understanding and tolerance in dealing with
these difficult situations.
The United Nations has been seized with the
reform of the Security Council and with the
revitalization of the General Assembly for a number of
years. When the United Nations was founded 58 years
ago, the membership was 51; today there are 191
Member States.
Much has changed in the geopolitical dynamics
of the world, which the United Nations represents and
reflects. Therefore, there is a need for structural and
functional changes in the Security Council and the
General Assembly, two of the main organs of greatest
importance in the world body.
At the beginning of this intervention, I alluded to
the tardiness in the implementation of collective
decisions, particularly on the subject of the sustainable
development of small island developing States. A total
of six summit conferences have been held over a period
of 11 years to address the issues of the environment
and development in those vulnerable island States.
Donor countries have not fulfilled their end of
that partnership. Official development assistance
continues to fall, and multilateral aid has dropped
significantly. Ten years later, another high-level
meeting is scheduled to take place in Mauritius in 2004
to review the Barbados Declaration and Programme of
Action.
My delegation is hopeful that the occasion will be
used to ensure that the priority issues facing small
States will be addressed in a way that gives optimism
to the millions whose lives depend on a commitment to
the following issues: improving their preparedness for,
and recovery from, natural and environmental
disasters; addressing the problem of climate change
and sea-level rise, which could submerge low-lying
nations in the Caribbean and the Pacific; preventing
worsening shortages of potable water; developing solar
and renewable energy to lessen dependence on
expensive imported oil; and managing growth in
tourism to protect the environmental and cultural
integrity of our nations.
My delegation’s appeal to this session of the
General Assembly is for all stakeholders, including the
multilateral financial institutions, demonstrate their
total commitment to the entire process in order that
efforts to implement outstanding important
commitments can be finalized.
Despite the uncertainty over adequate funding for
implementation, my delegation remains confident, Mr.
President, that, with your ability to lead and build
consensus, this fifty-eighth session will become known
as the General Assembly of implementation.
6

As Secretary-General Kofi Annan recently stated:
“We all live on the same planet, buffeted by the
same winds, influenced by the same currents of
change. But instead of acting on what unites
us … we allow a chasm to persist between us …
We need to mend this great divide with a new
fabric of solidarity”.
My delegation is convinced that we have the
opportunity to build and develop this new kind of
solidarity and partnership between rich and poor, big
and small, powerful and weak, at this session of the
General Assembly. The opportunity is ours to embrace
or to lose.


Mr.
President, you have the honour and privilege of guiding
the work of the General Assembly at a time when the
United Nations is at a crossroads. The international
situation is marked today by doubt, anguish and
disillusionment. Faced with the many conflicts and acts
of terrorism that beset our world, and with the constant
disquieting increase in poverty, we must acknowledge
that the end of ideological confrontation did not bring
the world either peace or the development so hoped for
by the founding fathers of this Organization. Therefore,
in conveying my heartfelt and warm congratulations to
you on your election to the presidency of the fifty-
eighth regular session, I would like in particular to
convey my wishes for courage and success in
discharging this noble mission and assure you of the
support of my country, Benin.
My delegation would also like to convey a well-
deserved tribute, to your predecessor, Mr. Jan Kavan,
and to congratulate him on the results obtained during
his presidency in defining modalities for implementing
the outcomes of the major conferences held under the
aegis of the United Nations.
Allow me also to congratulate, in particular, the
Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, on the courage,
skill and resolve with which he is guiding our
Organization, an irreplaceable instrument for the
promotion and maintenance of world peace.
My delegation is grateful to him for his constancy
in dealing with events that shook our universal
Organization during this year. He understood how to
bring the necessary clear-sightedness, with his
unshakeable faith in the ability of the international
community, to provide a concerted response to urgent
problems of our time while rejecting any confusion of
roles. In so doing he saved our Organization from scorn
and collapse.
Whenever the United Nations has been called into
question, faced with a challenge to its very existence, it
has stood up and reaffirmed its usefulness in managing
situations as the guarantor of international law.
The terrorist attacks against the United Nations
headquarters in Baghdad, which caused many
casualties, profoundly shocked and enraged the people
and Government of Benin. The United Nations does
not deserve this kind of gratuitous barbarity perpetrated
against its staff, who are devoted to the cause of
rebuilding Iraq.
Benin reiterates its sincere condolences to the
family of Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello as well as to the
14

families of all the other victims of the explosion. We
once again convey to them our solidarity and support.
My country reiterates to the Secretary-General,
Mr. Kofi Annan, and his associates our admiration for
the courage and conviction with which, every day, they
do their jobs. This act should not shake their firm
determination to defend the cause of humanity, and
should be a new source of commitment to attain the
goals of the United Nations.
Our support for the United Nations and the
Secretary-General is based on Benin’s commitment to
multilateralism, which is and must remain the linchpin
for the new order that the international community is
striving to build.
If there is one area in which our Organization has
made some progress in strengthening its effectiveness,
it is in the prevention, management and settlement of
armed conflicts. It has given real meaning to its action
in this area by clearly defining modalities for
implementing peacekeeping operations.
My country endorses the conclusions and
recommendations of the Secretary-General on conflict
prevention, particularly in the areas of poverty
eradication, transparency in the area of arms, the fight
against the proliferation of small arms and light
weapons and weapons of mass destruction and the
peaceful settlement of disputes.
The gravity of the situation prevailing in Africa
makes the continent a central concern of the
international community. Given the seriousness of
Africa’s problems, the United Nations and its Member
States owe it to themselves to step up their support for
African initiatives to reverse negative tendencies and to
avoid any prolonged destabilization of the continent.
At its recent summit held in Maputo,
Mozambique, the African Union gave a forceful
demonstration of its resolve to acquire the means to
tackle its problems. The conference elected all the
senior officials of the African Union Commission. The
new team should strive to develop and maintain
relations of partnership with the world, based on
Africa’s priorities. Benin hopes that this new team will
enjoy the trust and support of the international
community in order to restore peace on the continent
by eliminating various pockets of tension and through
the promotion and implementation of development
programmes.
We also commend the work done in the
framework of the New Partnership for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD), which embodies the hope for
the revitalization of the continent through combined
synergies produced by implementation of the main
points of this programme, which is based upon
consensus.
The importance accorded by the G-8 to the
promotion of peace and stability in Africa is an
important step forward. This new commitment will
give Africa the means to contain the many conflicts
and latent crises that are fraught with serious danger
and unimaginable consequences. Benin is prepared to
cooperate to establish this work plan so that by 2010
Africa will have an inter-African peacekeeping force,
an essential instrument for political stability, without
which Africa would be unable to tackle urgent tasks of
economic and social development. The Security
Council missions to Central Africa and West Africa in
June and July this year highlighted the crucial need to
have this mechanism as a permanent presence.
Developments in Africa since our fifty-seventh
session, and the facts gathered on the ground by the
Council missions reaffirm one unavoidable fact, that
the effective mobilization and rapid deployment of
troops to the field is decisive in managing armed
conflicts in Africa, as indeed it is everywhere else on
our planet.
The speedy reaction of the international
community was crucial in the case of Côte d’Ivoire,
where Operation Licorne and the deployment of the
contingent of the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations
Mission in Côte d’Ivoire (MINUCI), made it possible
to help warring brothers to silence their arms and
embark on a dialogue in order to preserve the territorial
integrity of Côte d’Ivoire.
The restoration of calm should not lead us to
underestimate the seriousness of the situation in Côte
d’Ivoire, where the political crisis is far from over.
Major problems remain to be resolved, and it is
important that an international military presence be
maintained in Côte d’Ivoire in order to maintain
conditions conducive to dialogue regarding
implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis agreements
for a return to normality.
Furthermore, the rapid reaction by the Central
African States and Nigeria made it possible to put an
15

end to the coup d’état in Sao Tome and Principe and to
return to power the democratically elected President.
Likewise, just a few weeks ago in Guinea-Bissau,
immediate action and initiatives taken by ECOWAS
prompted the perpetrators of the coup d’état to enter
into a negotiating process aimed at a short transition
leading up to the organization of presidential and
legislative elections.
The authorization to send a multinational force
and a United Nations stabilization force to Liberia,
under Chapter VII of the Charter, gave a clear signal of
the international community’s determination to end the
conflict there. The impact of these steps is very
encouraging, and we welcome the signing, in Accra on
18 August this year, of the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement.
Recent political developments in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo have continuously highlighted
the importance of the need to hold an international
conference on the situation in the Great Lakes region.
The complexity of phenomena in Africa requires
the Secretary-General to maintain an ongoing dialogue
with African leaders and to adopt common approaches
to relevant issues. That is why Benin welcomes the
establishment of the Office and the appointment of an
Under-Secretary-General as the Special Adviser on
Africa.
The implementation of the New Partnership for
Africa’s Development (NEPAD), a genuinely African
initiative, has made significant progress this year. It has
become increasingly detailed in programme design and
in its specific projects for agriculture, the environment,
energy and information and communications
technologies. The involvement of civil society has been
effective in expanding the social basis of NEPAD and
as a way of involving peoples in its implementation.
Benin urgently appeals to the international community
to enhance its support for NEPAD, as it did in Tokyo in
the context of the Third Tokyo International
Conference on African Development.
In this regard, it is important that the United
Nations operational activities be buttressed by
strategies based on effective partnership with all
stakeholders in the development process. They must
help implement concrete projects that have a real
impact on the living and working conditions of peoples
with a view to poverty eradication. Indeed, the annual
rise in the number of poor people in the world has
become increasingly distressing. It makes us question
ever more deeply the current world order and the
sincerity of the determination of the international
community — in particular, that of the development
institutions and the rich countries — to combat poverty
and to promote genuine sustainable development.
It is true that the absence of democracy,
corruption and poor governance are tragic scourges in
that they exacerbate poverty and impede development.
There is no doubt, however, that the least developed
countries have undertaken extremely courageous
economic and political reforms at the cost of enormous
sacrifices made by their populations. That is why we
remain concerned by the low rate of implementation of
the Brussels Programme of Action for the Least
Developed Countries and call on the international
community and our bilateral and multilateral partners
to demonstrate greater solidarity and responsibility. My
Government strongly favours a substantial increase in
resources made available to the various assistance
funds, in particular the United Nations Capital
Development Fund, which is working to eliminate
poverty.
The Fifth Ministerial Conference of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) ended less than a month
ago in Cancún. My country, Benin, which is the
Chairman of the Coordination Bureau for the Least
Developed Countries, attended with the firm
determination to establish a candid and constructive
dialogue with the developed countries. The goal was to
find a solution to the dysfunctional free trade system,
which prevents the developing countries, particularly
the least developed among them, from enjoying their
comparative advantages in the agricultural sector. The
sectoral initiative on cotton introduced by Benin,
Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad targeted that specific
issue.
History will record the Conference as a failure.
My delegation nevertheless believes that, despite the
difficulties, Cancún moved the negotiations forward. It
was an opportunity for the least developed countries to
state some of their concerns, in particular those related
to the practice of subsidizing non-competitive
agricultural producers. This practice is literally
strangling the cotton growers of the underdeveloped
countries, particularly in West Africa.
16

Benin should like to reopen discussions so that
the trade negotiations begun in Doha can effectively
offer new prospects for the development of the least
developed countries. We must establish transparent
pricing on the world market and open up markets in
order to allow competitive countries to produce and
sell their products at remunerative prices. This is of
tremendous importance to African cotton-producing
countries, because the future of a sector that has been
developed at great cost, with the assistance of the
international community, is at stake. Our Organization
would gain in credibility if it could find a way to
guarantee our peoples their right to subsistence.
Indeed, who on this Earth has never worn a
cotton shirt, dress or loincloth? Who among us here has
never used cotton to clean or bind a wound? The
progressive disappearance of the cotton sector will
have unimaginable implications and consequences for
our comfort in clothing and other needs of all
humankind. The time has come, therefore, for the
developed countries to hear the voice of the poor
peasants labouring under the sun and rain in Africa.
While globalization may require considerable structural
adjustments, it is increasingly necessary that its
concomitant sacrifices be parcelled out fairly. This will
require the rich countries to assume their responsibility
to give the peoples of the least developed countries a
chance at survival.
In 2004, the international community will
commemorate the tenth anniversary of the International
Year of the Family. That will be an important event, to
which my delegation should like to draw the attention
of the international community in order to spotlight the
role of the family in our society and the part it can play
in meeting contemporary challenges. To that end,
Benin proposes the convening of a regional African
conference in 2004 and calls for the support of the
Secretariat for such an event.
At the national level, since our last session Benin
has met two significant challenges in the entrenchment
of our democratic process launched in February 1990.
The decentralization of our territorial administration
was achieved following our municipal and communal
elections of December 2002. Those elections marked
the conclusion of a fundamental reform of State
administration in Benin, which is now structured
around decentralized, financially autonomous
communes led by elected mayors who are accountable
to the people. This reform has created the optimal
conditions for grass-roots democracy and has allowed
the people to participate actively in public
administration and thus to become real stakeholders in
local community development. Elections for deputies
to the fourth legislature were also held in March 2003.
These two elections were free, transparent and
democratic. They took place calmly and peacefully.
They made a further contribution to strengthening the
democratic rebirth of Benin.
These concrete achievements attest to the vitality
and stability of our national institutions and to their
effective contribution to the ongoing strengthening of
the constitutional order in Benin. This historic
opportunity for Benin to enjoy peace and stability in a
subregion beset by recurring internal armed conflicts
implies a certain responsibility with regard to our
contribution to the international community’s efforts to
promote democracy throughout the world and to
restore peace in countries in conflict, particularly in
Africa.
It was in recognition of this firm commitment of
Benin’s that the General Assembly entrusted us with
the organization, from 4 to 6 December 2000, of the
Fourth International Conference of New or Restored
Democracies. For nearly three years, Benin chaired the
follow-up mechanism to that Conference; it recently
transferred that chairmanship to Mongolia, which
organized the Fifth Conference from 10 to 12
September 2003. My country welcomes the outcome of
the Ulan Bator Conference. We remain committed to
the principle of periodic assessment of democratic
practices. We will spare no effort in implementing the
Ulam Bator Declaration and Plan of Action.
The active and effective participation of Benin in
peacekeeping operations decided upon or authorized by
the Security Council also makes clear my country’s
resolute commitment to democracy, the maintenance of
peace and security in the world and international
solidarity. It is in that context that Benin’s candidacy
for a non-permanent seat in the Security Council for
2004 and 2005 should be seen. In that context, Benin
will resolutely strive to strengthen the crucial
partnership that the Security Council is endeavouring
to establish with regional and subregional
organizations in the area of peacekeeping. Benin is
counting on the support of the entire international
community so that we can have the privilege of
serving, at such a high level, the cause of peace and
international security.
17


It is neither pride nor
the prospect of privilege that moves us to assume the
Presidency of the United Nations General Assembly
but a certain determination that is the unspoken
strength of islands. Nor is it merely that we are
honoured — though indeed we are — but that we also
feel worthy, as worthy as any other member of this
community and determined to make our contribution to
the progress of humanity and the welfare of the world.
Saint Lucia recognizes and appreciates that this
Presidency became a reality only with the support of
the Latin American and Caribbean family.
Our preoccupation is not with size, sovereignty or
power but with people, and by this measure we are not
small, nor are we just an island, for we do not stand
alone. We stand as one Member of this Organization,
proud of the legacy and the vision that we can offer the
world. We assume this role because we wish to offer
that vision to the world — because it is larger than our
238 square miles and larger than our population of
159,000 people. It is a vision we wish to place at the
service of humanity.
It is our hope that Saint Lucia’s presidency will
offer a fresh perspective, an alternative view, and a
different, but not discordant, voice to the heart of the
Assembly. As such, the people and the Government of
Saint Lucia express both their appreciation and their
determination to the members of this international
community — appreciation for the faith and trust
bestowed upon us with the presidency of this
institution, and determination that we shall not fail it,
but be judged equal to the task before us. If it is a task
of Herculean proportion, then we will face it with equal
confidence, certain that the rebuilding of our broken
humanity is a matter which we encounter in the
company of equally resolute and undaunted partners.
Since the end of the cold war, the legitimacy,
credibility and relevance of this time-honoured
institution have never been so questioned as they are
today. The United Nations Millennium Declaration was
designed to revive the dying pulse of all humanity but
has itself become comatose. Indeed, Secretary-General
Kofi Annan was moved to state that:
“It is uncertain whether the consensus and
the vision that the Millennium Declaration
expressed are still intact.”
Saint Lucia therefore calls on the international
community to heed the appeal of our Secretary-General
to seek balance between the imperatives of military
security and human security. In the interest of
redistributive justice, global peace and security, the
developed countries must not renege on their
commitments to the developing world in the areas of
trade, debt relief and aid.
The Millennium Declaration goal of halving
global poverty is receding into nothingness, but it can
be rescued if developed countries make good on their
pledges. Moreover, we might challenge ourselves
beyond merely halving global poverty, by aspiring to
its virtual elimination. By now, it should be clear to us
27

all that poverty issues are inseparable from human
rights issues, as are environmental issues from
economic and political development issues. National
security and international stability can be realized only
where there is justice.
It was the prophet Isaiah who reminded us that if
mankind is brought low, everyone will be humbled. Yet
if we, the international community, retreat from the
ideals of the creation of a greater humanity, we would
also be retreating from the core values and principles
enshrined within the United Nations Charter. More
importantly, we would be tacitly endorsing the return
and consolidation of a global uncivil society — the
symptoms of which are already manifest within our
global society. Religious intolerance, tribal aggression
and civil war continue to ravage many parts of our
planet. Among the victims are the poor, the
marginalized and the vulnerable — often women and
children, who play no part in the making of war but
find themselves stripped of their human dignity and
basic human rights. Terrorist attacks in Bali, Kenya,
Saudi Arabia and Baghdad add to our symptoms of
impending rupture.
The arteries of conscience are becoming hardened
by the frequency of wanton violence, yet on occasion
there are incidents that shock our sensibilities. The
murder of Sergio Vieira de Mello and other United
Nations colleagues reminds us of the mindless horror at
the heart of that darkness. Saint Lucia joins the
international community in expressing sympathy to
their families, and we reiterate our profound respect to
those international workers who are so willing to make
the ultimate sacrifice to extend humanitarian
assistance, security and comfort to those in peril and in
need.
In this environment, it is essential that we
maintain a United Nations which steadfastly adheres to
its original core values. Saint Lucia will resist any
attempt to de-legitimize the United Nations system.
Any strategy which claims to embrace peace, security
and justice and yet excludes the United Nations belies
a flawed and unreal conception of world affairs. This
Organization has been instrumental in the preservation
of the nation-State within a framework of binding
relationships among Governments. More importantly,
the United Nations has been a devoted guardian of
individual rights and freedoms. Saint Lucia maintains
that the United Nations, precisely because of its
diversity, is the only organization with the political and
moral legitimacy to deal adequately with global issues.
This universal body — this United Nations — has
no other choice but to heed the lessons of the past and
the wisdom of the ages in its attempt to better serve
humanity. When our predecessor organization, the
League of Nations, was discarded as irrelevant, we
witnessed the advance of disorder and human
catastrophe on a scale never before envisioned. If we
stand idly by now, while this time-honoured institution
is rendered irrelevant and toothless, we will have
commissioned an epitaph for humanity.
Saint Lucia therefore calls for the completion of
the efforts at reforming the Security Council to better
reflect the realities of this new century and to make it
more representative — more democratic, legitimate
and transparent. The existing veto system is too easily
influenced by national interests to address serious
issues afflicting humankind. If a coalition of the
willing could be assembled for war, then surely we can
also gather a coalition of the willing to address the
problems of poverty, disease, illiteracy, hunger, and
trade imbalances. There can be no sanitizing of one
corner of the globe while contagion, despair and
desperation fester elsewhere. There is no security for
the one while insecurity plagues the other.
But, ultimately, the strength of the United Nations
must come from the political will of the Member
States — a political will that must accept that everyone
should adhere to, abide by, and implement all the
decisions taken and resolutions adopted by the
Organization. We cannot, in the name of national
interest, observe only some resolutions and expect to
have a strong United Nations.
The United Nations cannot be strengthened if we
do not have the political will to accept that its activities
cannot be dictated by the agendas of a few powerful
States. It must embrace, in equal measure, the concerns
of the small and the weak that are the majority of its
Members. No single State, by virtue of its economic or
military might, should determine, on its own, the
obligations and responsibilities of the rest of humanity.
“Muscular unilateralism” and the emerging
doctrine of diplomatic unilateralism cannot be the
preferred approach to serious global issues.
Exceptionalism within the international system is
certain to fragment international cooperation, making it
28

less likely that countries will forgo aspects of national
sovereignty in the interest of the common good.
It has become abundantly clear that the
international community will not succeed in its war
against terrorism if it fails to address root causes. The
current war on terrorism is designed to capture, confine
or eliminate existing terrorist networks without
addressing the causes of terrorism. Terrorism does not
stem simply from the arrogance and madness of a few
dictators and misguided fanatics; it is also the result of
deep-seated inequity and, sometimes, bigotry. If the
status quo denies opportunity, freedom and fulfilment
to those who hunger and dwell in despair, the appeal of
chaos and extremism as an avenue to change becomes
that much more attractive. If, on the other hand, we
perceive that the world order works in the interests of
all of us, there will be a universal commitment to
sustain that order. Consequently, it is imperative that
the international community jointly address economic
injustice and political exclusion as common enemies of
us all.
Your assumption, Sir, of the presidency of this
institution at this time, as a representative of a small
island developing State — one of the smallest
Members of the United Nations — is both a tribute to
the democratic principles of the United Nations and a
signal of the need to conclude the process of
revitalizing the work of the General Assembly. We
must conquer delay, procrastination, repetition and
inaction.
Many years have passed since deliberations on
the reform of the Security Council began; and yet there
is no end in sight. Consultations on the revitalization of
the General Assembly first began 13 years ago, and on
that issue, too, there is no end in sight.
For some reason, the United Nations seems to
enjoy operating in decades. We create decades for our
programmes, and when we fail to take action in a
particular decade, we simply declare another decade.
And so the cycle continues — for decades. This body
can no longer afford the luxury of “decade syndrome”,
compounded as it is by bureaucratic operations bound
by tradition and habit.
We must be extremely proactive on the question
of the revitalization of the General Assembly. Saint
Lucia therefore wishes to propose that during this
session we review all the draft resolutions before us,
and determine which need to be consigned to the
record books and which merit the continued attention
of the Assembly. We need to restructure the time
frame, as well as the working methods, of the
Assembly and its Main Committees, so as to make
more productive use of an entire year, rather than
engaging in a three-month frenzy of activities.
Furthermore, we should consider making the agendas
of the Main Committees and the Assembly more
relevant to the general debate. It is our view that these
should flow from the themes enunciated at the general
debate.
The United Nations must not compromise its role
in global economic governance and development. Saint
Lucia calls for Members to resist attempts to dilute the
development agenda through cuts and freezes of
regular and core budget allocations.
Saint Lucia reiterates the need for reform of the
system of global economic governance so as to allow
for fair trade and special and differential treatment for
developing countries. The current global governance
system has failed many small States by eliminating
commodity protocols and the quota and price
preferences that sustain small economies.
Unfortunately, they have been replaced by the
conspicuous indifference of neo-liberal economic
practice. This has contributed to the decimation of
many Caribbean economies. It is Saint Lucia’s earnest
plea that the distortions in farm trade about which —
despite their prevalence — discussion is conspicuously
avoided, will be treated in a manner reflective of the
redistributive priorities of this Organization. We are
therefore determined that a more inclusive and
transparent global governance system should hold as
sacred the goals and aspirations of those of us in the
developing world who strive against all odds.
Among the most vulnerable countries in the
world today are some of the territories that are on the
United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
These countries, the majority of which are small island
States in the Caribbean and the Pacific, have yet to
exercise the right to self-determination. In the words of
the Secretary-General, it is time for the United Nations
to bring to a close this colonial chapter of history.
We therefore welcome the cooperation that the
Special Committee of 24 on decolonization has
recently been receiving from the administering Powers
of those Territories and the advances that have
consequently been made in the work of the Committee.
29

We further welcome the negotiations that have just
begun, for the first time, between the Special
Committee and the United Kingdom on the process of
decolonization in the Caribbean. We look forward to
continued cooperation with the administering Powers
so that the goal of self-determination for all of these
Territories can be achieved in less than a decade.
We believe that this General Assembly
presidency is both symbolic and strategic — not just
for ourselves, but for this Organization and the
revitalization of its development agenda. That a small
developing country should aspire to and attain such
high office is a testament to the magnanimity of this
noble institution. It is an opportunity to demonstrate
that global equity and universal democracy remain
meaningful constructs of the world community.
Our voice can be ignored or it can be heeded, but
it will not be silenced. The choice of an appropriate
response rests with this community. Our presence here,
however, is a manifestation of our belief that humanity
demands conscious renewal — renewal to guarantee
that the international community resists war,
remembers the poor and is prepared to give tangible
meaning to the Charter, to which we all subscribe as
responsible members of the world community.
But there can be no renewal if faith in the United
Nations system is not also restored and retained. The
United Nations must remain as the moral epicentre of
world politics. Any re-conceptualization of the
architecture of global governance that excludes the
United Nations will leave the world weaker, more
divided, vulnerable and less secure. This cannot and
should not be our legacy to future generations, who
will judge us not by our words or espoused principles,
but by the actions we employ to render this world fit
for human habitation.


First of all,
Sir, allow me to congratulate you on your election as
President of the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth
session and also to commend Mr. Jan Kavan for his
outstanding and astute leadership in presiding over the
fifty-seventh session. I should like also to commend
Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his dynamism and
for the great leadership qualities he continues to
display in steering the affairs of the United Nations. I
wish to assure you of Malawi’s continued support and
cooperation as we deal with the challenges before us.
I would like to express Malawi’s sincere
condolences to the families of the victims of the
senseless and barbaric attack against the headquarters
of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq,
which resulted in the loss of a number of lives,
including that of the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General, Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello. The
attack should serve as a warning of our need to remain
focused on the fight against terrorism to ensure that the
20

war against that scourge proceeds as a multilateral
undertaking. We fully support the call for all those
responsible for such attacks to be charged with war
crimes.
Time has demonstrated the cardinal place of
multilateral approaches to international issues and
problems. The Iraq situation has revealed to us all in
the international community the importance of
multilateralism under the auspices of the United
Nations, whose central role in addressing international
conflicts should not be undermined.
Let me seize this opportunity to express, on
behalf of the Government and the people of Malawi,
my gratitude to the United Nations and its agencies, as
well as to other multilateral and bilateral donors, for
the emergency relief assistance given to Malawi and to
other countries of southern Africa during the past two
years, when our people faced a critical food shortage
that threatened millions of lives. Their timely
intervention enabled us to prevent a massive loss of
life. We trust that the international community will also
assist us in improving our agricultural production so as
to prevent the recurrence of famine.
Africa continues to experience the effects of the
tragedy created by the HIV/AIDS scourge. Our
national budgets are seriously overstretched by the
demands of care, treatment, support and funerals for
HIV/AIDS victims, which occur on an hourly basis in
an environment of devastating economic decline and
famine. We are losing able-bodied people and
professional expertise in all the sectors of our society
two and a half times faster than we can replace them.
We are grappling with the problem of caring for tens of
thousands of orphans, whose numbers are increasing at
an alarming rate.
The bleak and desperate situation created by HIV/
AIDS urgently calls for concerted and practical
international action to implement the Millennium
Declaration and Development Goals in the fight against
this pandemic. I would like to thank all those partners
that continue to assist us in addressing this serious
problem.
Malawi has paid close attention to the new
international debate presently taking shape which
advocates a qualitative paradigm shift from policy
frameworks and mere commitments in conferences to
the concrete implementation of an agreed action
programme, or what has become known as the New
Multilateralism which aims at addressing the serious
shortcomings of existing multilateral policy
prescriptions. The debate also seeks to effect a move in
the right direction. My Government supports this
important innovation and, especially, the newly-
launched United Nations system wide integrated
framework for least developed countries, jointly
worked out by the six core agencies and designed to
facilitate the effective integration of the least
developed economies into the multilateral trading
system.
We also support the United Nations Development
Assistance Framework (UNDAF) mechanism for
effecting increased coordination and collaboration at
the national level in the preparation of development
plans and programmes. We are keen to see a better-
coordinated and integrated follow-up to, and
implementation of, not only conference outcomes but
also outstanding donor commitments to our
development efforts.
In the same vein, the Government of Malawi fully
endorses the current exercise designed to reform the
United Nations. A more representative and democratic
United Nations will enhance the efficiency and
credibility of this world organization.
I cannot overemphasize the centrality of market
access and trade to the whole question of poverty
eradication, sustainable agriculture and rural
development. We need to translate the debate on
Western protectionism into a deliberate, broad-ranging
global policy against trade barriers. Malawi is
concerned at the collapse of the recent World Trade
Organization meeting in Cancún, Mexico. We can only
hope that the stalemate in the talks is only temporary.
In the current unbalanced system of trade, low
commodity prices on the international market have
allowed a virtual free flow of our primary products to
the West with a near-zero return on our agricultural
sector, making it all the more difficult to develop the
sector into a key catalyst for rural and sustainable
development as a strategy for effective poverty
reduction.
The world today is faced with multiple
challenges, which have tested the resilience of the
strong, as well as that of the weak. In Africa, the noble
objectives of the New Partnership for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD), geared towards enabling.
Africans themselves to assume full responsibility for
21

development challenges, can be meaningfully realised
only with the support of the developed countries. So
far, not much has been achieved owing to resource
constraints. The resource pledges made by the Group
of Eight at meetings in Canada and France must be
honoured in order for the implementation of the
NEPAD programmes to pull Africa out of economic
stagnation.
We were heartened by the launch, early this year,
of the road map for a Middle East peace with the
expectation that it had established conditions for an
irreversible transition to the establishment of an
independent Palestinian State co-existing with the State
of Israel. It is, therefore, regrettable that the road map
is being frustrated by elements that do not wish to see
peace take root in the Middle East. We call upon the
Middle East Quartet and the Israeli and the Palestinian
sides, in particular, to remain committed to the road
map and to do everything in their power to make it
succeed.
I would like to commend the Secretary-General,
jointly with the Assembly and the Security Council, for
having taken a number of decisive steps towards the
resolution of conflicts in Africa, including through the
framework of the open-ended ad hoc Committee. of the
Security Council on conflict prevention and recovery in
Africa. Malawi reaffirms its alignment with the
position of Africa and the Southern African
Development Community on preventive diplomacy,
and commends, in this regard, the General Assembly
work on a draft resolution on the prevention of armed
conflict in Africa. We also support the Economic and
Social Council resolution establishing an Ad Hoc
Advisory Group for mobilizing assistance for African
countries emerging from conflict.
The humanitarian tragedies in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau,
Sierra Leone and Liberia remain a serious distraction
from important national and regional development
initiatives.
In this regard, we welcome the peaceful handover
of the reigns of power in Burundi on 30 April, 2003, in
accordance with the terms of the peace accord of
August 2000. We also commend the successful
establishment and launching of a broad-based
Government of national unity in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo on 15 July 2003 and the
peaceful and successful elections recently held in
Rwanda. However, it is important that war crimes
committed in conflict areas be thoroughly investigated
so that justice may take its course. This would help to
check impunity, a phenomenon of most conflict
situations. In this connection, my Government
welcomes the announcement, on 16 July 2003, by the
Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court of
plans to investigate war crimes committed in the region
of Ituri in the north-eastern part of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo.
Malawi believes that the United Nations can
meaningfully advance the principles upon which it was
founded and effectively deal with the multiple
challenges that the global community is facing by
taking an all-inclusive approach to its membership. It is
in this spirit that my country has, time and again, called
for the participation of the Republic of China in the
affairs of this Organization in line with the principle of
universality. Taiwan has a lot to offer in the promotion
of the global common good, which the United Nations
is here to advance. I therefore hope that the 23 million
people of Taiwan will be given sympathetic
consideration so that they may, once again, enjoy the
right to associate with the world community through
this Organization.
Next year will be an important one for the people
of Malawi, as we will be holding the third general
election of the democratic dispensation ushered in
1994. The elections will be tripartite, as they will
include presidential, parliamentary and local
government elections. The elections could not have
been scheduled to take place at a worse time, given that
the country has recently experienced a serious food
shortage that has further strained the few resources
available to it. However, in response to the demands of
the country’s constitution, the Government and the
people of Malawi remain committed to fulfilling this
constitutional requirement for good governance based
on free and fair elections. Malawi seeks the
cooperation, support and assistance of the international
community to facilitate the entire electoral process.
May I conclude by conveying to you,
Mr. President, to the Secretary-General and, indeed, to
the United Nations family, the profound gratitude and
appreciation of His Excellency President Bakili Muluzi
and the people of Malawi for the support and
cooperation extended to the President and his
Government since they assumed power in 1994. As
President Muluzi prepares to retire next year, after
22

serving the people of Malawi as President for two
consecutive five-year terms, he is confident that the
United Nations and, indeed, the international
community at large, will remain committed to assisting
the new leadership and the people of Malawi in their
quest for meaningful and effective socio-economic and
political development.


I begin by joining previous speakers in
congratulating you, Mr. President, on your election. My
Government is deeply gratified by the recognition of
your accomplishments as someone from a country that
is a member of the Small Island Developing States
Network. We are confident you will lead the work of
fifty-eighth session with the same abilities as your
distinguished predecessor, His Excellency Jan Kavan
of the Czech Republic.
On behalf of the people of Sao Tome and
Principe, I would like to reaffirm the principles of the
Charter and its role in promoting peace and
development, and to pay tribute to Secretary-General
Kofi Annan for his dedication and leadership.
We all face daunting challenges. Violence has
inflamed international relations. On behalf of my
country, I would like to express our outrage and regret
that the United Nations Mission in Baghdad was
brutally attacked, with the tragic loss of such
outstanding United Nations professionals as Sergio
Vieira de Mello. We pay tribute to all those who died
defending the peaceful path to peace and development
in Iraq.
As we all are aware, Africa, perhaps more than
all the world’s continents, faces enormous challenges.
We are plagued by endemic diseases such as malaria,
which debilitate and kill our people needlessly. HIV/
AIDS is devastating Africa’s families, societies,
cultures and economies. How can we have economic
development when our people are too ill to work, or
when the main breadwinner in the family is dying of
HIV/AIDS, without any medical treatment?
Our economy has begun to feel the negative
effects of these two deadly diseases. We urge all
nations to work together to mobilize the necessary
human and financial resources for the critical task of
controlling these epidemics, which give rise to an
unrelenting cycle of death and suffering for our
peoples. There can be no hope for progress in Africa if
basic health is not first ensured, so that the people can
work and build their own prosperity.
Sao Tome and Principe, a small island State with
a fragile economy, is struggling. We are proud of our
democracy, our free and fair elections, our human
rights and our rule of law. But in July of this year our
proud and stable democracy came under threat from
forces seeking to topple our constitutionally elected
Government. They did not succeed, because the
international community quickly intervened to support
our elected authorities and to negotiate a peaceful end
to the coup attempt, which restored our constitutional
Government. I would like to take this opportunity to
thank Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his personal
concern for our country’s well-being. I wish also to
express my appreciation for the support of the African
Union, led by President Chissano of Mozambique, and
for the tireless assistance of President Obasanjo of
Nigeria, as well as that of officials from Portugal,
Brazil, the United States, Angola, Gabon, Cape Verde
and the Congo, and the many others who rescued our
democracy from peril.
But our democracy will remain under threat
unless the Government can mobilize resources
sufficient to provide basic services to our long-
suffering people. For this reason, the people and the
Government of Sao Tome and Principe ask for
continued international support, with development aid,
to improve the lot of our people and to ensure the
survival of our young democracy.
We must all work together to strengthen
multilateral cooperation and to ensure that the United
Nations and all its agencies continue to be the forum in
which all Member States can promote dialogue and
ensure world peace, security, democracy and
development.
My country regrets that international relations in
some parts of the world have deteriorated to the point
where extreme violence is the daily norm,
infrastructures have been destroyed, and human rights
are daily violated. We lament the plight of the refugees
that this violence creates, and especially the plight of
children, who often become the victims of those who
traffic in human beings.
The tragedies in Iraq, the Middle East, Liberia
and Afghanistan — to name only the most egregious —
can be overcome only within the multilateral
framework of United Nations. Unilateral actions are
doomed to failure in the long run.
At the same time, Sao Tome and Principe
supports an urgent reform of the Security Council, to
make it into a body that reflects current realities and
not those of the cold-war era. The Security Council
must be democratised, with the expansion of the
category of permanent members.
19

We observe with great concern the spread of
terrorist acts across the globe, ranging from tragic
examples such as what happened at Bali in Asia, to
Palestine and Israel in the Middle East, to Spain and
the United Kingdom in Europe, to Kenya and Tanzania
in Africa, to Colombia in Latin America, and right here
to New York and other sites in North America. But
fighting violence with violence is not enough. We must
go to the root of the problem, and that is the task of the
United Nations.
The world is a less secure place today than it was
a year ago. The proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction continues, non-proliferation treaties
notwithstanding. We must ensure the universality of
those treaties and compliance with them under the
authority of the Security Council.
Sao Tome and Principe strongly supports the
Millennium Development Goals, but much remains to
be accomplished. The rules of the international
economy continue to be dictated by a small number of
countries that promote free markets while closing their
own. The latest World Trade Organization meeting in
Cancún is the natural result of this hypocrisy.
Developing economies like that of my country can be
competitive only if there is a level playing field, if all
markets are open and if subsidies and protectionism are
erased.
As an island nation, Sao Tome and Principe
continues to see its very existence threatened by global
warming. Our shorelines are eroding and our national
territory is shrinking as the seas rise. Is my small
country to end up as nothing but a tiny volcanic peak
sticking up above the waves, with the last of our people
clinging to the land left unclaimed by the rising sea?
The Kyoto Protocol must be implemented by all for the
benefit of all.
For many years, the people of Cuba have been
living under an unjustifiable economic embargo. That
economic embargo is hampering development, and
people’s lives would improve were it to end. The time
has come for both sides to improve confidence-
building measures by going back to the negotiating
table and normalizing relations.
Mr. President, my country would once again ask
for your attention with respect to the Republic of China
on Taiwan. This is a country with a democratically
elected Government which has built a strong economy
and which has strong ties with many Member States.
Taiwan was recently affected by Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), but it was beyond the
reach of the World Health Organization because
Taiwan is not allowed to be a member — simply
because Taiwan’s people do not accept the imposition
of the “one China” principle.
Despite its small size, Taiwan offers development
aid to a large number of countries. Taiwan also
contributes to international security by being a strong
proponent of the fight against terrorism.
I wish to call to the attention of the Assembly
that, under the universality rules set out in the Charter
of the United Nations, the Republic of China on
Taiwan must one day be here among us.
Our goal is to leave a better world for the next
generation. We cannot go along with the concept of
using force in international relations, and we denounce
human injustice.
We decry environmental degradation, which
ultimately threatens us all. Sao Tome and Principe
urges dialogue, tolerance and mutual understanding on
the part of all Member States. We ask all to respect the
United Nations Charter.