At the outset, allow me
to congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the
presidency of the General Assembly at the current
session and to wish you every success in discharging
your duties.
I would also like to pay full tribute to your
predecessor, Minister Gurirab, whose vast diplomatic
experience and able guidance throughout the fifty-
fourth session greatly contributed to its success and to
the ultimate triumph of the Millennium Summit.
It has been only 10 days since the historic event
of the Millennium Summit secured an unprecedented
quorum of the world's leaders to discuss at the highest
level the role and place of the United Nations in the
system of international relations in the new era. By
adopting the Millennium Declaration, the international
community clearly demonstrated its support for the
fundamental purposes and principles of the United
Nations Charter, which continue to be the basis of
international law and the main instrument that governs
international relations.
Ukraine's active participation in the work of the
Millennium Summit and in the Security Council
Summit, which was held on the initiative of the
6

President of Ukraine, testifies to the special importance
that my country attaches to the activities of this
universal Organization.
Like most other States — and the Millennium
Summit unequivocally reconfirmed this — Ukraine
denounces the threat or use of force as a means of
solving inter-State problems. We strongly believe that
only the United Nations possesses both the relevant
powers and the wide range of tools and mechanisms to
address today's major global problems. These problems
are the same today as they were several decades ago:
war, poverty, inequality in distribution of resources,
repression and discrimination.
Having gathered on 7 September at the level of
heads of State and Government for the second time in
United Nations history, the Security Council reaffirmed
its readiness to bear an essential share of responsibility
for building a world free of fear, poverty and injustice.
We consider the most important achievement of
the Security Council Summit to have been the
commitment, reaffirmed at the highest level, to
ensuring the effective functioning of the system of
collective security and to enhancing the efficiency of
available mechanisms for preserving peace and, in
particular, for conducting peacekeeping operations. We
believe that the United Nations will not be able
adequately to respond to the challenges to peace and
security in the twenty-first century unless its
peacekeeping potential is enhanced. Ukraine welcomes
the report of the Panel on United Nations Peace
Operations, chaired by Ambassador Brahimi. My
country finds most of its recommendations substantial
and far-reaching and calls for their speedy
implementation.
Ukraine has always considered United Nations
peacekeeping to be one of the most important raisons
d'etre of this Organization, which is called upon “to
save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”.
That is precisely why since 1992 more than 12,000
representatives of Ukraine have participated in 20
United Nations peacekeeping operations and missions.
Since the beginning of this year, Ukraine, fully
recognizing its additional responsibility for
maintaining international peace as a member of the
Security Council, has increased twentyfold its
contribution to peacekeeping operations.
In the course of the past eight months alone,
Ukraine has deployed a contingent of 650 troops with
the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon
(UNIFIL). We have also sent a group of military
observers to the United Nations Organization Mission
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC),
to Ethiopia and Eritrea, and have sent a group of
civilian police to the United Nations Transitional
Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). The
deployment of a special Ukrainian police unit of 115
servicemen with the United Nations police force in
Kosovo is being completed this week. Our military
contingent earmarked for the United Nations operation
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo stands in full
operational readiness.
Regrettably, it is common knowledge that human
history can be called a chronicle of continuous wars
and conflicts. I hope that at the end of the second
millennium, having learned from its tragic past,
humankind has finally grasped the simple truth — that
it is necessary to fight the fires of wars long before
they have erupted, because even the costliest peace is
much better than the cheapest war. This leads me to
emphasize the importance of the most expeditious and
effective implementation of the proposal put forward
by the President of Ukraine at the Millennium Summit
and at the Security Council Summit. He spoke in
favour of developing a comprehensive United Nations
conflict prevention strategy, based on the large-scale
use of preventive diplomacy and peace-building.
Ukrainian experts stand ready for this work. I am glad
to note that almost all the leaders who addressed the
Millennium Summit recognized preventive action as a
priority for the United Nations in maintaining peace.
In our view, the concept of regional centres on
conflict prevention can become a practical step towards
developing a relevant United Nations strategy. In this
context, Ukraine's recent proposal to establish a
regional centre for ethnic studies in Kyiv, under the
auspices of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), deserves proper
attention. We think that the activities of such a centre,
authorized to monitor current developments in the
sphere of inter-ethnic relations in the OSCE region and
directed at the timely detection of dangerous separatist
tendencies, will be conducive to a further elaboration
of the United Nations preventive strategy in
cooperation with the OSCE.
My country is keenly following the process of
conflict settlement in the neighbouring Balkans, the
troublesome region of Europe. While developments in
7

Bosnia give us sufficient grounds for optimism about
the future of its peoples, the situation in Kosovo still
causes us serious concern. We are confident that a
peaceful settlement in Kosovo has to be pursued in
strict compliance with Security Council resolution
1244 (1999), with full respect for the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia. In our view, it is impossible to resolve this
problem without determining the future status of
Kosovo following negotiations between the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia and the authorized
representatives of the province.
Ukraine is determined to intensify efforts aimed
at promoting the final peaceful settlement of the so-
called “frozen” conflicts in the post-Soviet territories,
particularly in Abkhazia, Georgia; Nagorny Karabakh,
Azerbaijan; and Transdniestria, Moldova. As a member
of the group of Friends of the Secretary-General, which
is promoting a peaceful settlement of the almost
decade-long Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, Ukraine cannot
but be concerned about the lack of real progress
towards peace in the region. I once again confirm the
invitation by President Kuchma to host in Yalta the
next round of negotiations between the Georgian and
Abkhaz sides aimed at confidence-building.
President Kuchma has also presented a feasible
plan for the settlement of the Transdniestria conflict,
based on the principle of “acquired status” acceptable
to all conflicting parties. Ukraine, together with the
OSCE, is currently examining the possibility of
reorganizing the peacekeeping mission in the region,
which will be made up of peacekeeping contingents
from Ukraine, Russia and other OSCE members. We
very much hope that in the long run these initiatives
will reinvigorate the process of resolving the conflict.
The credibility of the United Nations will always
be measured by its ability to provide an adequate
response to threats to peace and security in every
region of the world. Today this principle should be
upheld by giving special attention to the problems of
the African continent. The untold sufferings of the
peoples of Africa, resulting from both intra-State and
inter-State conflicts, are unlike those in any other part
of the globe.
Ukraine is determined to make a practical
contribution to United Nations peace efforts aimed at
resolving conflicts in Africa. This determination is
reinforced by our aspiration to expand trade and
economic cooperation with our African partners. Let
me repeat the words of the President of Ukraine at the
Security Council Summit:
“Ukraine looks forward to a century of African
renaissance and stands ready to hasten its
arrival.” (S/PV.4194, p. 13)
I would like to underline that, in resolving
conflicts in Africa the international community has no
alternative but to promote the need for strict adherence
to the principles of sovereignty, political independence
and territorial integrity of the countries of the region.
This has to be particularly emphasized in relation to the
conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the
most dangerous challenge to peace at the turn of the
century. Ukraine calls on all parties to the Lusaka
Agreement to comply fully with the relevant Security
Council resolutions and to implement their own
commitments.
The recent events in Sierra Leone have become a
serious test for our Organization. They prove the urgent
need to consolidate international efforts, with a view to
strengthening the effectiveness of United Nations
peacekeeping.
I reiterate our position on the need to continue
enhancing the sanctions regime against Angola's rebel
group, UNITA. We are convinced that reducing
UNITA's ability to wage war is an essential
prerequisite for restoring peace in Angola. It should
also be borne in mind that the sanctions have to be
accompanied by greater international efforts to resolve
this long-lasting conflict.
We note with optimism the latest developments in
the process of settlement in Somalia. This long-
suffering nation is painfully but steadily overcoming
the obstacles in its path to peace and stability.
Over the past year an important step forward was
taken in advancing one of the integral parts of the
Middle East peace process — its Israeli-Lebanese
component. The withdrawal of Israeli troops from
southern Lebanon in compliance with Security Council
resolution 425 (1978) has created new conditions for
further progress in the whole process. Ukraine
sincerely hopes that Israel and Syria will also be able
to achieve a breakthrough in their stalled negotiation
process in the near future, and calls upon the parties to
resume the dialogue as soon as possible.
8

We are following closely the process of solving
the core issue of the Middle East problem — the
question of Palestine. It is our firm belief that the
political wisdom and farsightedness of the Israelis and
Palestinians will eventually help them to reach a
mutually acceptable compromise. We welcome the
10 September decision by the Palestinian Central
Council to postpone the date of proclamation of the
State of Palestine. Ukraine hopes that, following
strenuous efforts on both sides, the Palestinian people
will finally exercise their right to self-determination
and to their own statehood.
The promotion of disarmament and nuclear non-
proliferation are among the crucial issues before the
United Nations and the whole international community
at the turn of the century. We are convinced that those
processes should go along with the overall
improvement of the international situation in other
spheres, the creation and practical implementation of
universal security guarantees, unconditional adherence
by States and international organizations to the norms
and basic principles of international law and the
consolidation of an atmosphere of mutual trust.
As a country which has made outstanding
contributions to the process of practical nuclear
disarmament, Ukraine fully shares the concern that the
attention of the international community to this issue
has substantially decreased. We believe that nuclear
disarmament and non-proliferation are the cornerstones
of international security and a means of averting a
global conflict. In our view, achieving the universality
of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the
Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty is the best way to
prevent nuclear proliferation and to ensure the
elimination of nuclear weapons. It is the nuclear States
that should be in the vanguard of this process.
The problem of illegal arms trafficking, which
has acquired a global dimension, also requires a
universal approach to its solution. The key role of the
United Nations is indispensable in consolidating the
international efforts to fight this evil.
Turning now to the problem of the Security
Council-imposed sanctions, I would like to reaffirm the
position of my country on this issue. Sanctions were
designed as a powerful tool to ensure the
implementation of the Council's decisions. However,
they were eventually turned into ineffective and
sometimes even harmful instruments. It is therefore
absolutely necessary to develop a clear and coherent
methodology for the imposition and lifting of sanctions
that takes into consideration the concerns of innocent
civilian populations and the interests of third countries.
Ukraine supports the recent Security Council
practice of defining time limits of sanctions at the stage
of their imposition. We believe that it is of primary
importance to develop objective criteria and
mechanisms for assessing the effectiveness of sanctions
and their impact — including on the target State. We
also support the immediate lifting of sanctions when
there are sufficient grounds to believe that they have
served their purpose. This is indeed the case as far as
the sanctions against Libya are concerned, where the
Security Council should move, as soon as possible, to
the next stage and take a long-overdue action.
Among the major challenges of the new century,
the problem of HIV/AIDS occupies a special place.
AIDS has become an epidemic of global proportions
with enormous human and social ramifications that go
far beyond the province of health alone. The time has
come for the United Nations to elaborate a
comprehensive agenda for action against this
pandemic. Aware of the magnitude of this problem, the
delegation of Ukraine, together with other sponsors has
promoted the convening, as a matter of urgency, of a
special session of the General Assembly on that
question. We are encouraged by the wide support for
this idea and look forward to further work towards its
realization.
We are convinced that the multilateral forms of
international cooperation have played and will continue
to play a decisive role in the attainment of the goals of
sustainable development. We support the reform efforts
of the Administrator of the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) for improving the
situation in the field of mobilization of resources and
enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of its work.
During the difficult period of economic
transition, the assistance to Ukraine by UNDP plays an
important role by streamlining the efforts of various
international partners. It also helps to alleviate the
complex problems related to the elimination of the
Chernobyl disaster's consequences and the
decommissioning of the Chernobyl nuclear power
plant.
I would like to take this opportunity to express
our gratitude to the countries participating in the July
9

donors' conference in Berlin, which pledged more than
$320 million of additional funding for the
transformation of the shelter facility into an
environmentally safe system. Almost $50 million still
needs to be raised to reach the amount required, and we
count on continuing international assistance in this
regard. I believe this could be effectuated within the
framework of the United Nations Chernobyl
programme. Let me underline that these funds will be
aimed mainly at the implementation of realistic
objectives, specifically the decommissioning and
eventual closing down of the Chernobyl nuclear power
plant by 15 December 2000, a decision that was
reconfirmed by the President of Ukraine at the
Millennium Summit.
We also hope that consideration at the current
session of the General Assembly of the item relating to
the integration of the countries with economies in
transition into the world economic system will make it
possible to elaborate a common strategy to solve
specific problems of these countries.
In this context, we attach great importance to the
accession of Ukraine to the World Trade Organization.
International economic cooperation at the regional
level is also of significance for Ukraine. I mean, in
particular, the development of our relations with the
European Union and interaction within the framework
of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization
and the Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and
Republic of Moldova (GUUAM) group.
Fulfilling the concept of “human rights for all” in
the next century is a task of global dimension. That is
why strengthening and improving the international
monitoring of human rights violations becomes
particularly acute today. At the same time, we remain
convinced that the use of force cannot be considered an
adequate means of ensuring respect for human rights.
I wish to emphasize that adherence to and
protection of human rights became the key policy
principle of my country. Ukraine has signed and
ratified all basic international documents in the field of
human rights and put in place at the national level
effective mechanisms for their implementation. This
year Ukraine adopted a decision to abolish capital
punishment.
The time that has passed since the historic Rome
Conference clearly reaffirmed the epoch-making
significance of the document it adopted. We consider
the International Criminal Court the only viable
democratic mechanism of a universal character to
enforce compliance with and respect for international
humanitarian law.
I would like to join previous speakers in
expressing our great hopes for the continuing role of
the United Nations in bringing solutions to global
problems. Given the complexity and the
multidimensional nature of this task, our Organization
needs to stand on a solid financial footing. We hope
that this session will enable us to speed up the process
of reforming and improving the mechanisms of the
apportionment of the United Nations expenses on the
basis of objective economic criteria. Therefore, the
process of United Nations reform, initiated three years
ago, should get additional impetus.
There is also a need to reactivate the efforts
aimed at Security Council reform, which is the key
element within the process of renewing the United
Nations. This was rightly emphasized in the statements
of many world leaders at the Millennium Summit.
The absence of substantive progress on this issue
limits the capacities of the Council as the major
instrument of collective security. I would like to
reiterate the position of Ukraine that the Security
Council's comprehensive reform should be based on
the norms and principles of the United Nations Charter.
In our view, increased representation in the Security
Council for all regional groups should remain an
essential principle. The interests of both developed and
developing countries have to be taken into account.
Ukraine believes that the necessary balance within an
expanded Security Council can be achieved through an
increase in both categories of its members.
By pursuing the path of strengthening the United
Nations and building up its institutions on democratic
foundations, the international community reinforces its
own capacity to meet the challenges of the time and to
create a climate of justice in international relations and
an atmosphere of mutual respect between States,
peoples and civilizations.
In the course of the historic Millennium Summit,
the international community, enriched by this
Organization's half-century of experience, outlined the
road map to be followed by mankind in the twenty-first
century. Only by intensifying concerted and resolute
efforts to attain our determined goals will we realize
10

the ideals of the Charter of the United Nations. After
all, this is the only raison d'être for our Organization.


At the outset, I would like, on behalf
of the delegation of the Lao People's Democratic
Republic, to congratulate you, Sir, on your well-
deserved election to the presidency of the fifty-fifth
session of the General Assembly. We are confident that
our Assembly stands to gain a great deal from your
able leadership and from your wide knowledge of
international affairs.
Let me also take this opportunity to congratulate
the outgoing President, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab,
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Namibia, for the
guidance he provided to the fifty-fourth session of the
General Assembly.
The twentieth century has been an epoch of great
technological and scientific discoveries and
achievements. This is indeed one of the positive things
about the past century that we all can be proud of.
However, this same past century has brought enormous
calamities and left manifold complex problems as we
enter the twenty-first century.
Certainly, we have to accept the responsibility for
resolving them and in order to succeed in addressing
this daunting task, we must lay down sound basic
foundations aimed at encouraging and building peace
and international cooperation for development. This is
the lofty goal of our new age that we should all strive
to achieve.
In preparation for the new millennium, a number
of international conferences were held on different
issues under the auspices of the United Nations, such
as the World Summit for Children in New York, the
Earth Summit in Rio, the World Social Summit in
Copenhagen, the World Conference on Women in
Beijing, UNCTAD X in Bangkok and other
international conferences of equal importance. The
main objectives of those assemblies were to solve the
multifaceted problems that have occurred in the world,
with the hope that the new millennium will face
minimal risk in every area and that humankind will
concentrate its intelligence and resources on
developing the economy, civilized culture and
prosperity in equality, in a just and peaceful
environment free from violent confrontation, with
concern for poverty, disease and others. However, the
objectives set forth by these conferences have not lived
up to our expectations. In addition, new challenges that
are far more complex have erupted in the light of
globalization.
The South Summit of the Group of 77 and China,
which was held in Havana in April this year, rightly
identified the positive and negative sides of
globalization and put forward a collective guideline for
future action. The conference was of the view that the
unsolved problems are the well-known issues of the
growing debt, the unfavourable world trade measures
imposed on goods from the developing countries  in
particular, the least developed ones  as well as
human resources that have not yet been developed to
cope with new technologies and others. Overall, all
these issues need to be seriously dealt with together
between the North and the South, so as to meet the
challenges and make use of favourable opportunities
that will lead to a North-South cooperation based on
equality and mutual interest, as explicitly expressed in
the Havana Declaration.
The achievements of humankind in the past
century are of immense value. We believe that, if these
achievements are correctly used, happiness and
prosperity will be brought to the new generation of the
next century. Nonetheless, we are still yet concerned
over the challenges that the new generation has to face.
Today many young girls and boys worldwide have not
enjoyed happy lives and lacked opportunity for
education. Moreover, they are subject to exploitation
6

for the purpose of pornography, prostitution and drug
addiction, that destroy their own future, their families,
the society and, subsequently, becomes the source of
international terrorism.
Similarly, the gender issue is also of great
importance. Although equality between women and
men is respected and women's participation in social
life has increased, poverty and violence continue to be
the major obstacles that affect women's life. To
successfully tackle this problem, countries around the
world should help each other and devote the necessary
resources to this domain.
Drug abuse continues to be a subject of major
concern for the international community. In the Lao
People's Democratic Republic, the Lao Government
has implemented, with the cooperation and assistance
of friendly countries and international organizations
in particular the United Nations International Drug
Control Programme  a number of projects with a
view to remedying the effects of drug abuse.
Experience has shown that people involved in poppy
cultivation continue to remain poor. Therefore, in order
to definitely solve this problem, it is imperative to
carry out alternative development projects, ensure food
security, enable people to earn more by cultivating
crops other than poppies, as well as traditional
cultivation. The Lao Government is determined to
continue its efforts in drug control and supervision. It
is our hope that the international community will lend a
strong helping hand in order to help us to overcome our
difficulties as soon as possible for the bright future of
our children.
While the world is entering the new millennium,
a number of regional conflicts have been satisfactorily
settled, thus responding to the aspirations of the
affected nations. However, at the same time, many
other regional conflicts remain unsolved and continue
to cause pain and suffering to the people directly
involved.
In the Middle East, durable peace has not been
ensured: the inalienable national and fundamental
rights of the Palestinian people have not yet been
exercised. We welcome the resumption of peace
negotiations between Israel and the Palestine
Liberation Organization. The two parties should seize
this opportunity to write a new page of history based
on peaceful coexistence and economic cooperation
among the peoples in the region. In this perspective,
we look forward to seeing the establishment of an
independent Palestinian State and of respect for an
existence of all States in the region, thus ensuring
durable peace and cooperation between the nations, in
particular between the Arab States and Israel.
The economic, commercial and financial embargo
applied against the Republic of Cuba continues to
cause enormous difficulties and damage to the Cuban
people. In compliance with the relevant resolutions of
the General Assembly, we urge that an end be put to
this restrictive commercial practice, which runs counter
to the principles of the Charter, international law and
the present world trend.
The Lao People's Democratic Republic is
following closely the situation in the Korean peninsula.
We welcome the outcome of the Korean Summit
between Chairman Kim Jong 11 of the National
Defense Commission of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea and President Kim Dae Jung of the
Republic of Korea, who met in Pyongyang last June
and laid down an important foundation in response to
the aspirations of the Korean people for the peaceful
reunification of Korea and the settlement of the
problems in the Korean peninsula through peaceful
negotiations, which contributed thereby to the
promotion of peace, stability and cooperation in the
region.
On 2 December 2000, the Lao People's
Democratic Republic will commemorate its twenty-
fifth anniversary. Over this period, the Lao people have
upheld the spirit of patriotism, self-sufficiency, and
strength and have attracted assistance and cooperation
from the international community. They have made
tremendous accomplishments in national construction.
As a result, their living standard has gradually
improved. The most outstanding achievement, attained
for the first time in the country's history, is that we
have reached self-sufficiency in rice production and
even have a surplus for export. The socio-economic
infrastructure has been continuously expanded, the
State is governed by the rule of law and freedom and
democracy are respected and constantly promoted. The
solidarity of the Lao people of all ethnic groups has
been further strengthened. These are all fundamental
factors in ensuring political stability and social order.
Thanks to the policy of renewal consistent with the
mechanisms of the market economy, the development
of the people's right to self-determination and an open-
door policy in our international relations, we are
7

convinced that the Lao People's Democratic Republic
will be able to emerge from underdevelopment in the
near future.
Globalization has had an uneven impact on the
development of every country, because each nation is
at a different stage in the development process. While
some developing economies are making use of the
increasing economic opportunities, a large number of
developing countries continue to be marginalized and
are therefore not in a position to benefit from this
process. Most countries in the developing world
continue to face problems of access to markets, capital
and technology. Many are obliged to undertake painful
structural reforms that are not compatible with their
realities and have an undesirable negative impact that
impedes their integration into the world economy.
Against this backdrop, there is a need to build a
favourable environment that would enable the
developing countries to compete in the world trading
system and to fully benefit from globalization. The
United Nations has a crucial role to play in helping to
make this happen.
As we bid farewell to the twentieth century,
humanity is still yearning for a world of peace, a world
free from want and misery, a world governed by
international relations based on respect for the national
sovereignty of States, cooperation for development and
peaceful coexistence between peoples. The
international community is therefore duty-bound to
increase its cooperation in all possible areas so as to
ensure that the objectives of the United Nations
Summit Declaration are achieved and to bring benefits
to peoples throughout the world, as well as guarantees
to new generations of a better life and a more
prosperous future. In this spirit, I wish the present
session great success.


I join previous speakers in
congratulating the President on his well-deserved
election to preside over this Millennium Assembly. I
am confident that, with his wisdom and consummate
diplomatic skill, he will steer the Assembly to a
successful conclusion.
Let me also express our appreciation to Mr. Theo-
Ben Gurirab, Foreign Minister of Namibia, for his
24

exemplary leadership as president of the General
Assembly at its fifty-fourth session, especially in the
run-up to the Summit. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
also deserves our unqualified tribute for his innovative
leadership to prepare the United Nations for greater
challenges ahead.
Nepal wholeheartedly welcomes Tuvalu as the
newest member of the United Nations family. We
congratulate the people and Government of that Pacific
island country on this happy occasion of joining the
world body as an independent nation.
Last week the heads of State and Government
assembled in this Hall of the people to ponder
measures to address the challenges of the twenty-first
century, and reaffirmed their faith in the United
Nations as the central instrument for promoting peace,
prosperity and justice. The vision given us by the
Summit's Millennium Declaration will be a guide for
the global community, and particularly for the United
Nations, in the days ahead. Nepal welcomes the
Declaration and pledges its commitment to implement
it with the utmost seriousness.
My Prime Minister, addressing the Summit,
expressed the view that the future will judge us by the
ability of our leadership to make a difference in
people's lives. We in Nepal expect the global
community to work in cooperation and solidarity, in a
true spirit of partnership, to change for the better the
destiny of every man, woman and child around the
world.
As we enter a new century and a new millennium,
the world is replete with paradoxes. It now has fewer
inter-State wars, but numerous civil wars. Science and
technology have made unprecedented advances, but
diseases like AIDS still defy treatment. More people
enjoy democracy and freedom, but terrorism still draws
youth. The walls of frontiers are crumbling in the
globalized economy, but the assertion of cultural
identity has increased. The United Nations has to work
in the midst of these paradoxes.
The United Nations has succeeded remarkably in
bringing peace in some situations and failed in others.
Its involvement has eased tensions in the Central
African Republic and Tajikistan. East Timor is heading
into independence in relative calm. Kosovo is engaged
in building democratic institutions. Israel has
withdrawn its forces from southern Lebanon, a
withdrawal which has vastly improved the prospects of
a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
Still durable peace remains as elusive as ever. In
essence, it entails a culture of peace founded on
disarmament and the peaceful resolution of conflicts,
as well as on measures that remove the root causes of
conflict — poverty and exclusion.
Lasting peace cannot be secured until nuclear
weapons, which constitute the major threat to global
security, are eliminated in a time-bound manner. Nor
can it be achieved without the complete eradication of
other weapons of mass destruction. We consider that
weapons delivery systems and the so-called national
missile defence systems threaten the peace as well.
Small arms and light weapons have killed more
people than all weapons of mass destruction combined.
We must turn our backs on the guns by controlling
small arms and light weapons. In this context, we
welcome the proposed conference on small arms to be
held in 2001.
Conflicts disturb Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin
America. The Middle East is yet to conclude the final
settlement and be at peace with itself. The Balkans are
still rife with dispute, though of a lesser extent now.
South Asia is in the perennial pain of low intensity war.
Terrorists are on the prowl in many places, exploiting
the fragility of States. As a result, thousands of
innocent lives have been lost. The action of the
Security Council, which is the world's sentry, has been
too little, too late in many situations; it has let
emerging disputes descend into full-blown conflicts.
Nepal urges the Security Council to act in a timely
manner, promptly, decisively and adequately to prevent
conflagrations.
Nepal has always been an active participant in
United Nations peace operations. Nepalese
peacekeepers have served with impeccable
professionalism and dedication and have earned a name
for themselves. Many valiant Nepalese Blue Helmets
have laid down their lives in the service of world
peace. The recent death of Private Devi Ram Jaishi, a
Nepalese peacekeeper, while defending peace in East
Timor, rekindles our commitment to abiding peace,
wherein no one needs to lose a father, husband or son
to violence.
As host to the United Nations Regional Centre for
Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, Nepal
25

is strongly committed to enhancing the Centre's
contribution to peace and disarmament, and is fully
prepared to meet its obligation to house the Centre in
Kathmandu.
The report (A/55/305) of the panel on the United
Nations peace operations provides a wealth of ideas to
put peacekeeping on a sound footing and to improve
peace and security in the world. My delegation agrees
with the tenor of the report, and will be willing to
examine it in greater detail as it comes up for closer
scrutiny.
A survey of the present trouble spots on earth
would lead us to one unmistakable conclusion: most
conflicts have poverty and exclusion at their root. All
too often, we tend to treat the symptoms, not the cause.
Nepal strongly believes that a durable peace will
continue to elude us as long as we do not eliminate
dehumanizing poverty and deprivation. Prime Minister
Koirala aptly described at the Summit the vicious circle
of poverty and conflict, and asked the world
community to redouble its efforts to reduce poverty in
search of peace. That deserves serious consideration.
Today more than one fifth of humanity lives on
less than a dollar a day. Poverty, illiteracy and diseases
are rife in the poor countries. Unemployment among
youth is rampant. A growing population finds itself
scrambling over shrinking resources in a stagnant
economy, which has been the case in most developing
countries. The AIDS pandemic has become a major
scourge of the developing world, particularly in Africa.
Unscrupulous leaders, often for narrow political gains,
fish in the troubled waters and incite violence, which
shatters the fragile economy further, making the next
cycle of violence inevitable and even more deadly.
If we are ever to achieve lasting peace, we must
reduce poverty and build peace from there. We
subscribe to the targets, suggested by the Secretary-
General in his report (A/54/2000), and adopted by the
Summit, to reduce poverty and promote development
in the developing countries. World conferences, one
after another, have concluded that this is the only way
forward. A series of their mid-term reviews has
reaffirmed this conclusion; yet, sadly, nothing much
has changed.
In global forums, both North and South have
agreed to work together for accelerated growth and
development in the South, to open the markets in the
rich countries to the products of the poor countries and
to improve access of the developing countries to
technology in the advanced countries; to relieve the
poor countries of their debt obligations; and to promote
social development and human rights. The global
commitments are forgotten before the ink on them
dries. We must narrow the gap between what we say
and what we do.
Most advanced countries have, for instance,
sorely lagged in meeting their pledges of development
assistance. More aid now means no need for it later.
Nepal commends those rich countries that have met the
aid targets, and urges others to do so. It is disturbing
that the United Nations funds and programmes, which
are the main sources of unconditional assistance, have
been facing a decline in their resource base; we call on
the global community to replenish their fungible
resources.
Although global trade has increased several times
in the last few years, the developing countries —
especially, the least developed ones — are losing
ground as their share in world trade diminishes, due
mainly to the declining terms of trade for them.
Globalization has gained momentum as people, trade
and services move across borders at an exceptional
speed. And information technology has opened a whole
new vista of communication, including e-commerce.
Much as both of these phenomena have potential
benefits for all, they have benefited some more than
others, widening the disparity between the rich and the
poor. We believe that the wealthy countries, together
with the World Trade Organization, must work towards
more equitable and rule-based trade to narrow the
income gaps, promote equitable globalization and
bridge the digital divide.
Countries in the South are sinking under the
unbearable burden of foreign debt. While we appreciate
the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt (HIPC)
Initiative of the rich countries, we also urge them to
expedite its implementation and expand its scope to
cover all the least developed countries and other
countries in serious difficulties, not of their own
making.
Foreign direct investment has become a motor of
growth for a few, but the vast majority of developing
countries remain untouched by this new phenomenon.
Understandably, markets drive investors in their
investment decisions, yet Nepal believes that our
development partners can encourage investors, through
26

a vigorous guarantee and incentive scheme, to invest in
those countries that have yet to see much foreign direct
investment.
The unsustainable patterns of production and
consumption in the rich countries, together with the
population pressure in the poor countries, have taken a
high toll of the environment, the common human
heritage. The global agreements to promote sustainable
development and to reduce greenhouse gases remain
largely unfulfilled. As for Nepal, we have taken
measures to preserve the environment through
establishing norms, reducing pollutants, extending the
forest coverage and building the green component into
development projects. We are also studying the Kyoto
Protocol with a view to becoming a party to it.
The least developed countries, particularly the
land-locked ones like Nepal, are confronted with the
most formidable challenges of development. Over the
years poverty in these countries has increased and their
share of world trade has sharply declined. In Nepal, for
instance, more than 50 per cent of the people are
illiterate and live below the poverty line. Lack of
access to the sea not only makes transportation difficult
for us, but also deprives us of sea-based resources.
These disadvantaged countries therefore need special
measures to overcome their development constraints,
including better transportation facilities for the land-
locked countries so that they can reduce poverty and
join the global economic mainstream. We believe that
the conference on the least developed countries to be
held in Brussels next year will open up a new vista of
cooperation for their development.
Nepal hopes that the high-level event on
financing for development next year will find reliable
means for funding development in the developing
world. It must energize both North-South and South-
South cooperation to fulfil shared objectives.
As a functioning democracy, Nepal is committed
to human rights and good governance. We have a
Government that is accountable to people and pledged
to serve them best. As democracy, development and
human rights reinforce each other, we strive to promote
them together so that people have the opportunity to
realize their full potential. Nepal is a party to most
human rights instruments, and we hold the view that
civil and political rights are as important as economic,
social and cultural rights — including the right to
development, for the healthy progress of society.
Therefore we oppose any selective use of human rights
values to suit vested political interests.
I also wish to report to the Assembly that Nepal
has recently freed the remaining few thousand bonded
labourers and established the National Human Rights
Commission. During the Summit we also signed the
optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, protocols on the sale of children and on
children in armed conflicts.
Today more than 22 million people have taken
refuge outside the country of their origin, and millions
are displaced within — sometimes because of natural
calamities, but very often because of their
Governments or because of terrorists. Nepal itself has
nearly 100,000 refugees from Bhutan; their presence
has created economic, social and environmental
problems for us. Nepal believes that both State and
non-State actors must respect the human rights of the
weak and vulnerable, including those of women and
children.
The security of small States has remained a
perennial concern for us. During the cold war the fear
was of being trampled in the super-Power rivalry; in
the post-cold-war era the fear is that small States will
be economically, militarily or politically bullied if they
act in a manner that incurs the wrath of the stronger
States. It is saddening that even the United Nations is
forced frequently to acquiesce to the designs of the
powerful. We urge the international community to
uphold the rule of law and the rich and powerful
countries to respect the right of small States to
sovereign independence, something they zealously
guard themselves.
Whenever there are problems anywhere on the
length and breadth of the planet, the United Nations is
called on to inspire and act, without necessarily being
giving the requisite resources. Since there is no
alternative to the United Nations, we must revitalize
and reinforce it through comprehensive reforms so that
it can rise to the challenges of changing times. It is
imperative to restore the primacy of the General
Assembly, which is the closest thing to a world
parliament, so as to bring the will of the peoples to
bear on vital global policies.
The Security Council reform process has dragged
on for quite a while. Although there is no quick fix, nor
should one be pursued, it is time to give reforms shape
and make the Council more representative in
27

composition, more transparent in function and more
capable of keeping peace. The Security Council, by
doing too little too late, has often proved part of the
problem, rather than of the solution. We must change
it.
Now that the recent Summit has recognized
poverty and social exclusion as the principal cause of
conflict, it is critical that we focus our attention on
reinforcing the Economic and Social Council on a par
with the Security Council on economic matters. We
must work towards making the Economic and Social
Council capable of coordinating the funds and
programmes within the United Nations and with the
Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade
Organization and other outside bodies.
Nepal applauds the Secretary-General for the
silent and continuous revolution at the United Nations
in search of economy and excellence. Indeed, there is a
constant need to regenerate and reinvent the world
body to attune it to the emerging challenges in a
changing world.
Sadly, the United Nations has to limp from one
year to the next as some of the key contributors fail to
live up to their treaty obligations. We believe that the
cardinal principle for apportioning financial obligation
should be the capacity to pay based on one's share of
world gross national product, with special
responsibility on the part of the permanent members of
the Security Council in peacekeeping budgets. It is
morally indefensible to make the poorer countries
subsidize the richer countries to keep the United
Nations and its peacekeeping activities going. We call
on all Member States to pay their dues in full, on time
and without conditions.
South Asia has one fifth of the world's people,
but lacks recognition and clout commensurate with its
size and potential. The only way for it to gain the place
it deserves is through regional cooperation. Yet we in
the region have not been able to work closely and
cohesively for the greater good of our peoples. The
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is
virtually at a standstill. Nepal urges all fellow South
Asian countries to work collectively for the shared
prosperity of our peoples. Time will not be kind to us if
we fail to seize the opportunity.


I am honoured to
participate in this historic session on behalf of His
Excellency Mr. Charles Ghankay Taylor, President of
the Republic of Liberia.
I am pleased to congratulate you, Sir, on your
election as President of the General Assembly at its
fifty-fifth session. My delegation acknowledges the
astute diplomatic skills and esteemed wisdom that you
bring to this important assignment. We are therefore
assured of a successful convocation, and assure you of
the full cooperation of the Liberian delegation.
I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to the
outgoing President, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab of Namibia,
my brother and colleague, for the very able manner in
which he conducted the fifty-fourth session of the
General Assembly.
In the same vein, I commend our Secretary-
General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his vision, far-
sightedness and the efficient manner in which he
continues to carry out his mandate.
This session has the challenge of determining
how the international community will address the
primary issues of peace and development. It has the
task of assisting in preventing intra-State, inter-State
and regional conflicts, as well as of ensuring that we
pursue balanced and non-selective approaches to their
solution. In addition, it must consider how to bring
equity to the present international financial structure.
Despite the much heralded dividends that globalization
offers, developing countries are still beset by mounting
debt burdens, unfair trade practices, declining official
development assistance, poor health delivery systems
and inadequate resource flows. An improved
environment for global interaction, sensitive to the
needs of developing countries, is a dire necessity that
must not be ignored during our deliberations.
The purposes and principles of the Charter have
proved to be of durable value over the years. Today, as
in the past, Liberia reaffirms its commitment to this
instrument. The machinery that has evolved continues
to be an indispensable framework for better
international relations. But Member States cannot
continue to support the United Nations in words only,
and must avoid resorting to the expediency of
exploiting it in the pursuit of narrow national aims that
consistently discredit others.
At the dawn of this millennium, the United
Nations performance will be measured principally by
its capability to sustain and protect the universal values
of liberty, equity and solidarity, tolerance, non-
violence, respect for nature and shared responsibility,
as endorsed by the Millennium Summit a few weeks
ago. Liberia intends to be a part of the process.
2

There are areas of the United Nations that need
constant attention and improvement. Liberia and other
Member States have spoken of the need to deal with
some of the structural and institutional malaise that
continues to undermine the Organization's
effectiveness. As emphasized in my address to the
Millennium Summit, we must, first, review the
inequitable representation of the world's people
reflected in the present structure of the Security
Council; secondly, review the undemocratic processes
of decision-making in the Security Council; and,
thirdly, review the continuous violations, with apparent
impunity, of the United Nations Charter by the big, the
rich and the powerful.
Indeed, when the Organization was constructed,
five nations were entrusted with the responsibility of
overseeing the entire world. The prevailing
circumstances justified this dispensation, and Liberia, a
signatory to the Charter, reasoned that the arrangement
was acceptable. Time has unfolded new realities that
make the arrangement of old unrealistic, unjustifiable
and certainly unacceptable.
There is a need to take into account existing
political, economic and security realities. I need hardly
say that one area of concern to Liberia is the use of the
veto in the Security Council — a use that, on some
occasions, has proved to be in conflict with the noble
objectives of the Charter.
Liberia is interested in peace, justice,
development and economic progress for its people, and
will not restrain its voice on issues that are vital to all
nations and on which it should speak with an equally
authoritative voice.
Mindful that peace can translate into a sustained
climate for development, Liberia has continued to work
within the framework of the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS) to make peace in our
subregion a reality. In this regard, Liberia was
privileged to assume the mandate given to President
Charles Ghankay Taylor by his colleagues, heads of
State of ECOWAS, in Abuja in May 2000.
In keeping with consultations held among the
Chairman of ECOWAS, the Chairman of the
Organization of African Unity (OAU), the President of
Nigeria, and the President of the Gambia, hosted by the
President of Liberia, in Monrovia on 26 July 2000, a
new leader and interlocutor of the Revolutionary
United Front (RUF) has been named by the RUF high
command, through a letter to the Chairman of
ECOWAS. Thus Corporal Foday Sankoh was removed
from the peace process in Sierra Leone. Additionally,
the new RUF leadership has indicated, in writing, its
willingness to accept a ceasefire, to return to positions
held at the signing of the Lomé Agreement on 7 July
1999, to accept the deployment of an ECOWAS
contingent of the United Nations Mission in Sierra
Leone (UNAMSIL) into RUF positions and to proceed
with the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
programmes.
Liberia, along with other ECOWAS member
States, has also called upon the new RUF leadership to
show good faith by returning all seized arms,
ammunition and equipment to UNAMSIL. It has been
reported that some armoured personnel carriers have
been returned to UNAMSIL, but we must continue to
insist on full restitution.
Liberia wishes to take this opportunity to again
condemn the taking of United Nations peacekeepers by
the RUF, an act that challenged and undermined our
concerted efforts to ensure collective security.
Likewise, the recent attacks on United Nations
personnel in East Timor and Macenta, Guinea, are
unacceptable and warrant the collective actions of
Member States of the United Nations to prevent any
future attacks against United Nations personnel. We
must send a clear and unambiguous message to all
groups that the people of the world intend to
adequately protect those individuals commissioned to
carry out specific assignments for and on behalf of the
United Nations, whether in the area of peacekeeping or
in the discharge of other humanitarian services.
The Government of Liberia has expressed its
support for Security Council resolution 1306 (2000),
which calls for an end to the smuggling of diamonds
from Sierra Leone. As evidence of this, my
Government has committed itself to undertaking
several initiatives, including the enactment of a statute
criminalizing the export of undocumented or
uncertified diamonds; the enforcement of legislation
requiring the Central Bank of Liberia to issue
certificates of origin, in line with existing laws; and the
development of a transparent process, with the
assistance of experts from the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank.
After the Liberian civil war our Government took
several measures to consolidate peace and security in
3

our subregion, especially since many disgruntled
former combatants sought refuge in neighbouring
countries. The Government of Liberia voluntarily
destroyed, with the assistance of ECOWAS and the
United Nations, more than 21,000 small arms and more
than 3 million rounds of ammunition. The Government
of Liberia also signed the protocol to the ECOWAS
small arms Moratorium.
Despite these measures, and the current
imposition of an unjust arms embargo against Liberia,
armed insurgents from the neighbouring country of
Guinea have attacked Liberia for the third time. The
repeated violations of Liberia's territorial integrity by
armed insurgents from the area of the Guinea-Sierra
Leone borders have been reported to this Assembly and
the Security Council, the OAU and ECOWAS. Though
generally unacknowledged and not condemned, in
April 1999 there was an incursion from Guinea,
followed by another in August of the same year.
A third and most recent attack emanating from
the Republic of Guinea is ongoing and has resulted in
the loss of lives and property and the displacement of a
large number of our people.
We are alarmed by the large quantities of new
arms and ammunition being used by the insurgents
coming from Guinea, and the implications for ongoing
armed conflicts and potential hotbeds in our subregion.
The repatriation of some 32,000 refugees to
Liberia by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been
suspended as a result of the armed incursion. Indeed,
Liberia is a stakeholder in the peace and security of the
subregion, and especially in bringing the illegal arms
trade in West Africa to an end.
The inviolability of the borders between Liberia,
Guinea, and Sierra Leone remains a crucial issue. We
call, once more, for a monitoring presence of the
United Nations at these borders to monitor all crossing
points capable of vehicular traffic. We recognize the
enormous cost of policing the entire length of the
borders and suggest the utilization of an airborne
multi-spectral service to detect any unusual movements
of any type along the entire border. Intelligence
gathered therefrom could prove useful to the three
countries and the international community at large. The
cost of this service is reasonable and could be
underwritten by the international community.
The Government of Liberia wishes to bring to the
attention of this Assembly the maltreatment of Liberian
and Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea, which was
incited by a speech given by the President of Guinea,
General Lansana Conté, on 9 September 2000, and
confirmed by Human Rights Watch. The refugees have
been arrested, beaten and some even raped.
These actions are in violation of international
conventions and we appeal to the international
community to call upon the Guinean authorities to
respect and to protect all refugees living within their
territory. The attack on Guinea, while condemnable, is
no excuse for such inhumane treatment meted out
against innocent refugees.
Liberia remains committed to the pursuit of peace
and stability, both at home and in the subregion, and in
so doing, will assiduously struggle for the socio-
economic uplifting of its people and those of the
subregion under the ECOWAS Treaty.
In my intervention last year, I renewed my
Government's request for the Security Council to lift
the arms embargo imposed on Liberia eight years ago
in 1992. I advanced reasons in support of this request,
principal among which was the constitutional duty to
defend the territorial boundaries of Liberia and to
protect all individuals therein, and especially in light of
the repeated armed incursions into Liberia by
dissidents from Guinea. Again, in early July 2000 there
was another incursion into Liberia from the same
country by dissidents with the declared objective of
overthrowing the duly elected Government of President
Charles Ghankay Taylor. As I speak, there is an
ongoing war between Government forces and the
dissidents.
Although our repeated requests for the lifting of
the arms embargo have not received a favourable
response from the Security Council, we again put this
matter before that body for urgent consideration.
The present security situation within Liberia and
the West African subregion compels us to seek removal
of these restrictions, so that the Government of Liberia
can acquire the means to protect its citizens and others
within the territorial confines of the country, as well as
to maintain a stable environment. On the other hand,
the continued existence of an arms embargo against
Liberia in the midst of repeated armed aggression is a
violation of our inherent right to self-defence under
Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. If the United
4

Nations fails to grant Liberia the right to defend itself,
then the United Nations is obligated to provide for the
security and defence of Liberia.
The persistent attacks on Liberia, we believe, are
precipitated and encouraged by the knowledge that
dissident forces have of the existence of the United
Nations arms embargo on Liberia, which leaves Liberia
vulnerable to such callous and unwarranted attacks on
its nation and people by dissidents outside of the
country.
The Security Council arms embargo has not only
undermined and compromised Liberia's capacity for
self-defence, but it has further deprived our universities
from obtaining needed laboratory chemicals, deprived
our industries from acquiring essential explosives for
mining and rock quarries. Hence, the arms embargo
continues to have a disruptive impact on our
educational system and our economy as well.
In this post-conflict environment, there is the
urgent need to build confidence and enhance the
capacity of government institutions, such as health,
education and agriculture-related agencies and security
apparatus, which are vital to meeting the basic needs of
Liberians, including ex-combatants.
Pledges were made toward the achievement of
this objective in Paris in December 1997. However,
little aid has trickled in to further the reconstruction
programmes of our Government.
Despite the assurances from the international
community that the road to international assistance was
a successful disarmament process followed by the
holding of free and fair elections, the international
donor community has continued to pursue a policy of
punitive disengagement.
Pursuant to this policy, essentially, all known
avenues for obtaining assistance are laden with
impractical conditionalities, which are difficult to meet
even by countries that have not experienced civil war.
We wish to note that this exclusionary attitude
approximates the imposition of economic sanctions on
Liberia and its people.
However, whatever justification we may
rationalize, there is a population of Liberia that has
suffered the scourge of seven years of civil war:
vulnerable children, women and the elderly, who
deserve humane assistance irrespective of any political
imperatives; people who care less for the politics of the
machination of power brokers who arrogate unto
themselves the right to determine what is acceptable
behaviour in the international political system. I might
add that Liberians are not automatons.
As a sovereign people, we claim the incontestable
right to exercise the leading role in determining our
destiny, especially the right of ownership of our
development programmes. We are an integral part of
the human family, pulsating with needs and aspirations
that are good and honourable. We too desire to reap the
benefits of the people-centred development underlined
in the Millennium Declaration.
At this precarious period of our national life,
Liberians have shown uncommon resilience and are
relentlessly striving to rebuild their lives. What we
seek from the international community is its empathy
and human understanding in providing the requisite
assistance that will enable Liberians to enjoy the basic
human rights of food, security and peace. Importantly,
we wish similar benefits for our neighbours and others
beyond the West African subregion.
Following the successful celebration of the
Millennium Summit, which reinforced our collective
determination for the improvement of the management
of the United Nations in the twenty-first century, it
would seem morally incongruent that the 23 million
people of Taiwan are being denied the right to
participate in a United Nations.
General Assembly resolution 2758 (XXVI) denies
the Taiwanese people the right to participate in United
Nations activities and contravenes the United Nations
Charter's principle of universality. How can such
injustice suffice in this era of increased global
interaction, economic interdependence, political
transformation, democratization and rapprochement?
With the undeniable record of the Republic of
China, its experience in democracy as proven by the
recent election of President Chen Shui-bian, its respect
for human rights, its economic power resulting from its
acceptance of the market economy; the energy,
imagination and courage of its people; technological
achievements and humanitarian attributes all over the
world, who would query its overarching relevance?
Liberia fervently reiterates its call for the
inclusion of the Republic of China in this world
Organization. We believe that the Republic of China
5

can make important contributions that would serve the
best interests of the United Nations community.
The world has witnessed a significant
achievement in science and technology, leading to
rapid industrialization and the improvement of the
standard of living of humankind. Although the gains in
science and technology have led to the development of
new medicines and other scientific knowledge, it has
equally posed a threat to the environment and human
survival. Rapid industrialization and scientific
discoveries are dangerously impacting the
environment. Unless we modify our activities, the
sweet stories of scientific achievement will sadly lead
to tragedy and doom. In this new millennium we
cannot ignore the potency of threats posed by
environmental degradation to our survival. Saving the
planet is a precursor to the continued existence of its 6
billion inhabitants.
This is why my delegation supports the efforts of
the Commission on Sustainable Development, and
endorses the Commission's recommendation to
convene a General Assembly summit-level review,
preferably in a developing country in 2002, to reassess
the decision reached on Agenda 21 at the Rio
Conference in 1992.
Among the many impediments to social and
economic development in Africa are poverty, poor
health delivery systems, intra-regional wars and civil
conflicts. It is a known fact that there is a correlation
between war, civil conflict and the spread of
HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS pandemic targets and
destroys our human resource, which is the basis for our
socio-economic development. United Nations records
show that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS increases in
countries affected by war and civil conflicts, owing to
population movements. Therefore, we should not
ignore the fact that post-conflict countries need special
attention to fight the disease.
Throughout Africa, HIV/AIDS accounts for the
increase in the death rate among young people and
adults between ages 10 and 24, and 25 and 45
respectively.
We appeal to the relevant United Nations
agencies and other partners in the HIV/AIDS
programmes to help Liberia obtain the $6.5 million
needed to prevent and control the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Meanwhile, in reference to the Inter-Agency
Standing Committee working group established by the
Security Council in January this year to examine the
relationship between war and civil strife and the spread
of HIV/AIDS, I would like to state my delegation's
endorsement of the targets set for reductions in new
infections, and applaud the measures taken thus far to
provide care, support and access to information and
medication for HIV/AIDS victims. Hence, my
delegation commends the United Nations for its
assistance to countries significantly affected by this
dreadful epidemic.
Apart from HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and
polio contribute immensely to the obliteration of socio-
economic gains in countries where they are
widespread. Cognizant of the impediments that these
infectious diseases pose to our socio-economic
development, Nigeria has offered to host an African
Summit on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other
infectious diseases in the year 2001. Meanwhile, we
commend President Olusegun Obasanjo for hosting the
African Summit on “Roll Back Malaria” in April this
year.
We in Liberia have not relented in our efforts to
reduce, if not eliminate, these health scourges that
continue to threaten our social and economic
development. Hence, the Liberian Government in
cooperation with the World Health Organization has, as
a result of a vigorous campaign, successfully contained
polio, which killed and immobilized thousands of our
citizens in  past years. The polio vaccination campaign
targeted 900,000 people, and the number of people
vaccinated was 911,423.
I am pleased to report that, if I am allowed to
borrow and paraphrase the main slogan from this
successful campaign: we are determined to “Kick polio
out of Liberia”.
Liberia continues to be saddled by the debt
burden. This debt overhang, which remains a major
contributor to the gap between the rich and poor
nations, was acquired out of loans given in the pursuit
of influence in the cold war, which, as I stated in my
address to the Millennium Summit, was not in the
interest of the borrower. As a result of the debt burden,
our children are deprived of food, education, health
care, and jobs for their parents.
While we commend countries that have taken
steps to relieve poorer countries of their debt burden, I
6

emphasize that unless all rich creditor nations adopt
measures to erase this burden, it will continue to be
oppressive, and an impediment to sustainable
development for poor countries.
Liberia rejects the proclaimed efficacy of the
highly indebted poor countries initiative, and calls
upon the G7/G8 countries to consider a comprehensive
debt waiver programme for all highly indebted poor
countries.
In January this year, the meeting on poverty
reduction and growth held in Libreville, Gabon,
highlighted the situation in post-conflict countries that
the Copenhagen Conference failed to address.
In this regard, Liberia has proposed the holding
of a regional summit of post-conflict African States to
develop a realistic approach to debt eradication, and
calls on the international community to support this
important venture.
As I conclude, I cannot help but wonder what this
new Millennium has in store for the people of the
world. Nationalism remains an unchallenged reality
today, despite the wave of globalization engulfing our
world. Also, the politics of power and “might makes
right” still pervade in inter-State relations, especially
among the powerful. Will the powerful break down the
zeal of nationalism under the cover of their demand for
good governance, democracy, transparency and human
rights?
We have indeed seen with what double standards
and ulterior motives these demands have been made.
Or, will the lofty tenets of the Charter be upheld in
equally recognizing and respecting the right of self-
determination of the small and the big, the poor and the
affluent, in a world rich in cultural diversity deserving
of coexistence in peace and universal harmony? Will
this millennium see the end of cultural hegemony and
arrogance, primitive sentiments undeserving of this
new age of enlightenment and technology?
Only the test of consistency between our moral
value system and our actions will stand witness to
posterity.


Humanity, our greatest
concern, is the reason why we are gathered here today.
Humanity stands at a defining moment in world
history. The challenge before us is to harness the
collective consciousness and will of the international
community to address the problems of planet Earth.
During the course of the past century, the
disparities between and within nations have widened.
Poverty, ill-health, illiteracy and hunger among the
world's people have increased. The world's ecosystem,
the foundation upon which we all depend for survival,
is rapidly deteriorating. That is why we must regard
this moment as significant in human history, despite
Fukuyama's claim that history has ended. The Third
Millennium offers us the opportunity to break away
from the shackles of the past and create new
beginnings. The choices that we make can change the
face of humankind and lead to the accepted goals of
global peace, economic and human security and the
greater good of humanity.
The past century was replete with examples of
nations preening themselves for conquest and
domination. The conquistadors who plundered the New
World are still at large, using global institutions, new
technologies and weapons of destruction to oppress and
dominate the weak, the innocent and the dispossessed
sectors of mankind. The message that Saint Lucia
brings to this Millennium Assembly comes from the
pen of Saint Lucia's Nobel Prize Laureate Derek
Walcott, who reminds us that, “There are no worlds to
conquer/But worlds to re-create”.
Minds that are historically poisoned with
conquest can hardly experience the essential
equanimity and calm of re-creation. The theme of this
millennium Assembly reaches out in the direction of
re-creation: a people-centred reshaping of the role and
function of the United Nations and a purposeful moral
thrust in re-creating the battered, demoralized societies
in which we live.
8

That is why we must embrace the United Nations
Millennium Summit's theme, “We the peoples: The
Role of the United Nations in the twenty-first century”.
The attainment of meaningful transformation in the
world system calls for a United Nations capable of
assuming a vanguard role in development and in
advancing human society and security. The United
Nations system must play a critical role in promoting
global responsibility. Global responsibility implicitly
involves some form of moral commitment to human
welfare. It is the formulation of economic programmes
designed to bring about economic redistribution, to
safeguard against economic crises and to formulate
developmental policies that are in keeping with
environmental protection and sustainability.
The United Nations should be strengthened to
play a more central role in development, ensuring
equity and security for its small, vulnerable Members
like Saint Lucia against the greed of profit-driven
Powers. Instead, we are witnessing a consistent,
systemic weakening of the United Nations' role in
development, with development issues being left to
undemocratic institutions like the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World
Trade Organization (WTO), which perpetuate global
economic inequities and ignore the development issues
and concerns of developing countries.
The United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), the United Nations' primary development
agency, is now reoriented to giving advice in
governance and democratic elections. The United
Nations therefore plays a peripheral role in
development, and small States like Saint Lucia are left
on their own to be devoured by powerful States backed
by powerful transnational corporations.
Saint Lucia joined this Organization and
entrusted it with our hopes of peace, security and
development. This Organization has passed on our trust
to a few dominant Powers and corporations. If the
United Nations has a diminished role in ensuring
development, peace and security for its small and
vulnerable Members, then our presence here is an
unnecessary diversion of our scarce resources. In these
circumstances we feel threatened and vulnerable that
our trust has been betrayed.
The greater good of human security cannot be
fostered simply through peacekeeping operations and
humanitarian missions. There must be a global drive to
empower people, through the elimination of the
adverse conditions that cause the incapacitation of the
human spirit and the imprisonment of the imagination.
Hence, the United Nations of the twenty-first century
must be capable of playing a significant role in
liberating the human spirit and imagination through
education and real opportunity. It must be able to
reposition itself to give practical meaning to the rising
tide all over the world as the common man aspires to
higher and wider horizons.
In reaffirming our faith in the United Nations and
its Charter, it is again with the hope of saving
succeeding generations from the scourge of war. The
threat to peace does not necessarily emanate from
military warfare. There are new forms of war currently
being waged on the small, the weak and the vulnerable.
In previous addresses to this Assembly, and in the
statement of our Head of Government to the
Millennium Summit, we pointed out the injustice
perpetrated on Saint Lucia and other banana-producing
countries of the Caribbean by the WTO, through its
rejection of the marketing regime for bananas in
Europe as being WTO-incompatible. That ruling has
condemned our countries to the prospect of economic
ruin, in that the stabilizing force of our economy has
been dealt a mortal blow.
Since that ruling by the WTO, which granted an
unreasonably limited time to adjust our economy, we
have lost 50 per cent of our foreign exchange earnings,
while thousands of farmers have become unemployed
and poverty and crime are on the increase. Yet, despite
our urgent economic situation, negotiations between
the European Union (EU) and the United States have
been stalled. Saint Lucia calls on the United States to
resume discussions with the European Union on a new
marketing system for bananas that could be acceptable
to all, giving due consideration to the Caribbean
proposal. But that is a pipedream. Our hopes have
slipped on a banana skin, because there is a new
sweetheart deal between Britain and the United States.
Resilient a people as we are, we are moving to
diversify our economies and to build another sector —
financial services. Again, the economic giants are
determined to crush our development efforts and
subject our people to poverty by attacking yet another
sector of our narrow economic base.
Saint Lucia has acted in good faith in fulfilling
our obligations to the Charter of the United Nations,
9

assuming equality of all Member States. We have
respected the territorial integrity and political
independence of other Member States and have never
interfered in the internal affairs of another State.
Today, the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) has chosen to
dictate the tax policies of Saint Lucia and other
Caribbean islands by labelling our tax regime as a
harmful tax haven and is threatening to impose
sanctions for non-compliance with its prescribed
changes to our tax policies.
It is Saint Lucia's sovereign right to determine its
taxes. We cannot tell the OECD countries what taxes to
impose, nor do we expect interference in the exercise
of the sacred right entrusted to us by our citizens. Our
development options are few and limited, and we
consider the OECD action a violation of our basic
human right to development and to pursue a decent
standard of living for our people.
Our peace is threatened, our democracy is being
undermined. The conditions for conflict are being
created in my country and in the region, and yet,
instead of addressing development, we are being asked
to strengthen the United Nations to intervene in
national crises.
Within the context of a globalized world, the
concept of sovereignty is fast becoming an endangered
species. No self-respecting nation would willingly
abandon its sovereignty for the illusion of a better
world, when all the signals from this brave new world
are destructive and negative. In respect of
peacekeeping interventions, one can surrender
sovereignty to avoid a holocaust but certainly not to
permit well-heeled rapacious countries to hog the
capital flows in the financial services sector.

Last week, through our Heads of State and
Government, we reaffirmed our faith in the United
Nations and its Charter as indispensable foundations
for a more peaceful, prosperous and just world. This
reaffirmation is of particular significance to small
developing States like Saint Lucia, lacking the size and
resources to urge the international community to give
due consideration to our concerns and interests. We
agreed to entrust the United Nations with ensuring
equality among States. It is of paramount importance to
us that the United Nations does not flinch in its role of
fostering international dialogue and consensus
building, so that the concerns and interests of all
Member States are adequately addressed and reflected
in the work of the Organization. We do not expect our
trust to be given to more powerful influences to
determine our collective future. We rededicated
ourselves to upholding the principle of equality of
States and expect that equality to be realized in policy
directives of the United Nations with a balance in
representation of the interests of Member States and
regions.
Saint Lucia calls on the United Nations to assume
its rightful, central role in development and the
governance of globalization, to promote democracy
and good government nationally and internationally, to
stand for right and the protection of its weak and
vulnerable Members against the powerful and
dominant and to seek equality and justice for all. This
should be the focus of the United Nations in the new
millennium if poverty is to be eradicated and peace
enjoyed.
Saint Lucia cannot be enthusiastic about other
issues until development and equity in the global
economy become a priority. Our decline in revenues
denies us the capacity to increase our contribution to
peacekeeping, and we will be reluctant to do so until
there is an increase in our participation and benefit
from the global economy. Man cannot live by
governance alone or peace alone. Our people must find
the sustenance that will enable them to participate in
governance and peace. Saint Lucia therefore eagerly
looks forward to the convening of the
intergovernmental conference on financing for
development to discuss in a holistic manner issues of
trade, finance and monetary matters in the context of
globalization and trade liberalization.
We have always promoted an integrated approach
to development and global issues, and this age of
technology and interdependence lends itself more than
ever to the integrated approach of assessing and
addressing the issues at hand.
We continue to view the financing for
development process as the missing and the critical
link in the development agenda for a sustainable and
lasting resolution to poverty and threats to peace. We
hope that through this process the United Nations will
reclaim its legitimate role in development, entrusted to
10

it in the Charter, and promote the effective
participation of all its Member States in the governance
of the global economy and globalization, for the
benefit of all the peoples of the world.
The greatest threat to world peace and democracy
is the systemic imbalances and inequities in the global
economy and the institutions that govern it. This
situation is unsustainable and explosive. The thrust of
many statements made during the Millennium Summit
and this session has been to strengthen peacekeeping
efforts with resources and personnel. We recognize that
there is need for improvement in peacekeeping efforts
to make them more effective. However, equal emphasis
and effort are not being committed to addressing the
real threats to peace and the primary causes of war.
Developing countries are threatened by continued
deprivation and inequities in the global economy.
Unless these inequities and imbalances are corrected,
we will continue to create situations of unrest and
threaten intervention while causes go unaddressed.
Similarly, we parade the fashionable notion of
poverty eradication in isolation, ignoring the complex,
multi-faceted nature of poverty and the causes of
poverty, including global economic inequities. This
façade to placate the poorest is fooling some of the
people, but not all of the world's poor. The holistic
nature of development takes precedence over the
palliative of poverty eradication. International
cooperation in development should instead be
demonstrated through meeting the United Nations
target of 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product in
overseas development assistance, through debt
cancellation, special and differential treatment on a
contractual basis for developing countries and adequate
financial support for the United Nations' development
programmes.
We have reaffirmed our commitment to
promoting democracy, albeit with the emphasis on
democracy at the national level. The inherent problem
in achieving this objective is clear, since democracy at
the national level is undermined by the lack of a
commensurate level of democracy at the international
level. The world's peoples and leaders will rightly
mock the call for democracy if this principle is not
equally applied in the Security Council, the Bretton
Woods Institutions and the World Trade Organization,
the main institutions that currently govern world affairs
in peace, security and the world economy, respectively.
The United Nations must demonstrate leadership of
democracy at the global level if we are to believe in
this principle as a foundation for peace and prosperity
in the new millennium. All Member States must be
able effectively to participate in matters of peace,
security and the global economy in order to give real
meaning to democracy and governance.
The symbolism of the United Nations is
universally recognized, but our role in this millennium
is to redefine its goals, sharpen its focus and make it a
more efficient instrument for effecting global change
and development. But this institutional change must be
inspired and fired by the commensurate determination
of Member nations to re-create their own societies. The
resonance and sympathetic vibration of our visionary
Secretary-General Kofi Annan is not enough. We as
Member nations must set about the task of societal re-
creation, within the parameters of our own societies, to
offset the negative influence of moral degradation,
crime, drugs and anti-social behaviour. These are the
benchmarks of the uncivil society.
In the re-creation of our own societies we face the
structural disadvantages of unemployment, illiteracy
and the tyranny of consumerism and materialism. Our
young people are cannon-fodder for the blandishments
of cable television. They lap up a culture and a lifestyle
that militate against their own self-development. They
fail to understand the nexus between earning and
spending and develop an appetite for consumer
durables which their economic base could never
support. They become aggressively fired-up with
demands and rising expectations that neither the
resources of the State nor their flimsy work ethic can
entertain. They develop a culture of carping criticism
that leaves no space for a culture of appreciation.
Caribbean Governments look on almost helplessly at a
growing phenomenon that threatens to disturb the
rhythm of projected economic growth and breeds a
kind of lawlessness which conventional law-and-order
techniques cannot contain.
As globalization erodes the economic and social
bases of our islands, international and bilateral aid
dwindles. As ideologies and ideals give way to
pragmatism, the weak social and political fabric of
these fledgling nations is laid bare. The vocabulary of
containment and patience can no longer hold back the
anarchist tide of popular revolt. Small nations will
encounter their own Seattles, with no National
Guardsmen to come to the rescue, no sustaining

philosophies to stem the tide, only the grim statistics of
falling revenues and rising expectations.
Nations which attempt to grapple with these
social problems have incurred the wrath of large
countries, culminating in isolation and the imposition
of sanctions. Countries like Cuba and Libya have felt
the crush of sanctions. The United Nations system must
rethink the strategy of imposing sanctions and must
devise other means of ensuring compliance within the
international community. The imposition of sanctions
is often inhumane and is usually accompanied by
devastating economic consequences and fails to
produce the desired effect in targeted countries. The
international community should realize that
interventions, embargoes and sanctions do not a
democracy make.
Because of the untold suffering inflicted on
civilian populations, a twenty-first century United
Nations system cannot continue to endorse the
imposition of sanctions. What is even more devastating
is that the general will of this Assembly is often flouted
and ignored when the international consensus calls for
a removal of sanctions. Is democracy merely a
convenient attitude? If so, it begs the question as to the
insistence that countries like Cuba should conform to
the principles of democracy when these principles
themselves are being compromised and rejected as a
matter of convenience. It is these injustices and
violations that have turned world opinion in favour of
the embattled Caribbean country Cuba and have made
its leader Fidel Castro a living symbol of the
unconquerable spirit of our people to triumph over
adversity and incredible odds.
More than ever, the positives of a reformed
United Nations will become a refuge, a bastion of hope
for nations nonplussed by events that seem suddenly
out of their control. In my previous address to this
time-honoured institution, I alluded to the plight of
Africa. I should like to reiterate that as Africa was the
last impression of the twentieth century, poetic justice
demands that it must be our first preoccupation in the
twenty-first century.
In the process of re-creation, Saint Lucia and the
Caribbean must strive to become a catalyst for peace in
the international forum. We must use our collective
influence to contain the border disputes that threaten to
create friction in Latin America and the Caribbean. We
must also be wary of importing conflicts into our
region.
In the case of Taiwan and China, it is vital that
we pursue the line of working towards a one-China
policy instead of fuelling the hostilities that
characterize the existing relationship between these
two countries. An early resolution of the impasse
between Taiwan and China will strengthen the
solidarity of the developing world.
In the case of Africa, the Caribbean has always
enjoyed a peculiarly symbiotic relationship with
Africa. Men like Padmore, C.L.R. James, Eric
Williams, Sir Arthur Lewis and Walter Rodney have all
worked assiduously at the side of African leaders like
Nkrumah, Nyerere, Sékou Touré and Léopold Senghor
in order to realize the ultimate dream of a united Africa
liberated from the bondage of poverty, disease and
exploitation. This noble tradition must continue. Once
again, Saint Lucia calls on its CARICOM colleagues to
pursue the possibility of obtaining observer status at
the Organisation of African Unity.
The peoples of the African continent face the
onslaught of the AIDS pandemic that threatens to
decimate the population of the entire continent. But the
devastating effect of AIDS is felt not only on the
African continent. Today the world is confronted with
the greatest health crisis in human history. The effects
of this disease can destabilize fragile democracies and
economic progress in both the developing and the
developed world.
We welcome President Clinton's efforts to create
an African AIDS Trust Fund and the pledge of one
billion US dollars to combat AIDS in sub-Saharan
Africa. We also welcome Cuba's undertaking to send
three thousand Cuban doctors to Africa. However,
given the transnational nature of the disease, the United
Nations should use its institutions to launch a
movement aimed at the complete eradication of this
scourge. If the world is to survive the ravages of this
plague, we must not only pledge financial resources
towards research and the development of
pharmaceuticals, but we must make those
pharmaceuticals affordable and accessible and also
continue to sensitize the international community to
preventive measures.
At year's end, the General Assembly will witness
the end of the first International Decade for the
Eradication of Colonialism. Much remains to be done
12

before the United Nations is successful in carrying out
its statutory mandate to ensure complete and absolute
political equality for the peoples of the relevant
territories. This must remain the guiding principle of
the international community. That the majority of the
remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories are small
islands does not mean that the self-determination of
their peoples is less important than for former
territories which achieved sovereign status. We must
resist all attempts to legitimize the present unequal
colonial arrangements, which do not provide for full
and absolute political equality. Saint Lucia therefore
fully endorses the proclaiming of a second Decade for
the Eradication of Colonialism and calls on Member
States and United Nations organizations to fulfil their
responsibilities under the Charter and relevant General
Assembly resolutions.
On the initiative of the Government of Canada, a
debate has started in the forum of the Organization of
American States on the subject of global human
security. It is comforting for developing States, and
especially small developing States, to feel that the
conscience of the international world has been pricked
into focusing on the security of the entire globe — the
entire globe. On a discordant note, the United States of
America is now concentrating its attention on a
national missile defence system aimed at protecting the
United States from missile attacks. At this strategic
juncture in the new millennium, when world leaders
are gingerly nurturing a culture of peace and
disarmament, this action runs counter to the mood for
reconciliation and universal nuclear disarmament. This
unfortunate and myopic emphasis on the protection of
one nation and one people might well trigger a rash of
self-protective nuclear explosions, effectively eroding
the fragile trust which underpins the hope for global
human security.
There are no worlds to conquer, but worlds to
recreate. The recreation of the United Nations must be
posited on the basis of mutual respect between rich and
poor, mutual respect between large and small nations.
As small and desperate as our islands appear to be, we
should hold fast to the principles that inform the
operations of the United Nations.
We challenge the paradigm shift which the
developed nations are cleverly manipulating to shunt
the focus of the United Nations towards peacekeeping
and humanitarian assistance. Saint Lucia states clearly
and unequivocally that the United Nations focus should
zero in on development as a radical instrument for
eradicating poverty and war.
No $600 million carrot will tempt us to abandon
the principle of a nation's capacity to pay. No Congress
should determine the scale of assessments for the
United Nations, and there should be no conditionality
for paying arrears and meeting one's obligations to this
Organization.
The hungry sheep look up and are not fed. The
wolves run amok and batten on their hunger, and the
cycle goes on in its impropriety. This Organization
must not flinch in its millennial resolve to end the
carnage.
“So I come to you from the weary battlefield of
time
Armed with the disappointments of yesterday
The sufferings of today and the dreams of
tomorrow
In the struggle I may die
But let's not forsake another tomorrow”.