A/42/PV.25 General Assembly

9.  GENERAL DEBATE tolr. ONYONKA (Kenya): It gives me pleasure to join other speaKers who have preceded me and to convey to you, Sir, my delegation's warm congratulations upon your election to the high office of the presidency of this forty-second session. I should further like to extend to your predecessor, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, Mr. Humayun Rasheed Choudhury, our appreciation for the exemplary manner in which he conducted the business of the forty-first session. Permit me also to express our gratitude to Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, our Secretary-General, for the able manner in which he has continued to guide his team of international civil servants in the service of the international community. Forty-two years ago the tragedy of the 8ecood World War called for the oreation of an effective international arrangement t.o prevent the recurrence of a world war. The fundamental lesson learned in the wake of that war is to be found in the opening words of the Charter, which speaks of the determination of the peoples of the Uni ted Na tions t.O save succeeding genera dons from the scourge of war. The founders of the Organization reaffirmed, further, their faith in fmdamen tal human righ ts, the dignity and wor th of the human person and the equal righ ts of men and women and of nations large and small. Those noble ideals and objectives, among others, constitute the guiding spirit of the people and Governmen t of Kenya. Since the founding of the Organization, one of its greatest achievements has been the catalytic role it played in the decolooization process. In the 1960s and 1970s a large nunber of peoples and Territories exercised their right to self-determina tion and achieved their na tional independence. They have since taken their rightful places as full, equal and active members of the comity of nations. Regrettably, however, pockets of colooialism, which must be eradicated, still remain in Afr ica and elsewher e. Though the immediate post-war years saw the establishment of the united Nations and were characterized by relative international peace and security, decolonization and socio-economic progress, the present international political clima te and socio-economic environment appear sombre by compar ison. one of the paradoxical developnen ts of our time has been the replacemen t of colonial ism and foreign domination by super-Power rivalry for spheres of influence. The most powerful States, to which special responsibility was entrusted by the Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security, have become engulfed in a bitter rivalry for control of the world's resources and for an extension of their political and economic influence through devious and unethical devices, including interference in the internal affairs of weak developing States and economic blackmail of them. This trend is not conducive to the promotion of peaceful coeKistence among sovereign States, and lDust be arrested. I now turn to specific issues of which the Assembly has been seized over the years and which have remained potentially eX~losive,thereby threatening international peace and security. The failure to find a just and durable solution to the question of Palestine remains the basic cause of the continued tension and instability in the Middle East. In this context we support toe convening of an international peace conference on the Middle East. We consider that for a just and lasting peace to prevail in the region it must be recognized that every State there has the right to exist within internationally recognized boundaries. By the same token, we believe that no solution to the Midale East proolem is possible without the establishment of an independent State for millions of displaced and homeless Palestinian people. With regard to the situation in Afgnanistan, no durable solution can be found to the problem while foreign troops remain in that country. We therefore call for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan. Similarly, we support the call for the withdrawal of all foreign troops fronl Kampuchea. On the Iraq-Iran' war, we join the many delegates woo hdve calleu for an immeaiate cessation ot hostilities and support Security Council resolution 598 (1987) of 20 July 19H7and subsequent efforts by the Secretary-General in that regard. Concerning tne Korean Peninsula, Kenya firmly believes that direct contact is the best way to reduce tension in the area, leading to a peaceful solution of the Korean questlon, in conformity with the three principles of independence, peaceful reunification, and great national unity, as set forth in the North-South Joint Statement of In Central America, we applaud the efforts of the leaders of the region in their continued search for peace and the democratic process. In this context, we support the evolution of the peace process as initiated by the Contadora Group" augmented by the Support Group and culminating in the Guatemala agreement, which seeks to establish firm and lasting peace in the region. In this connection, we reject externally imposed solutions. At home in Africa, the overwhelming maJority of the people of Soutn Africa continue to suffer the indignity of the evil system of apartheid, despite a clear and universal consensus that the system of apartheid is evil, cannot be reformed and must be dismantled. Various measures proposed to accelerate the destruction and demise of apartheid have met with stubborn and aggressive resistance launched by the racist regime, with the support of its allies and major trading partners. This resistance has made it impossible for the Security Council unanimously to agree on measures necessary to undo apartheid. We firmly maintain that there is a moral duty on every country and people tq ensure the total destruction of this abhorrent system. In the struggle to liberate South Africa from the tentacles of apartheid, we salute, and declare our unwavering solidarity with, the peoples of South Africa in their struggle against oppression, exploitation and denial of toe right to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination. We therefore continue to demand the unconditional and immediate release of Nelson Mandela and all other political prisoners and detainees, so that they can participate fully in the political process in South Africa. Similarly, we call for the i~nediate lifting of the state of emergency, the ban on the liberation movements operating both inside and outside South Africa, and other oppressive measures. The current wave of censorship of news, escalated repression, indiscriminate detention, torture and murder of the black population, and aggression against the front-line States gives eVen more. urgent reasons for the Assembly strongly to urge the Security Council unanimously to impose comprehensive and mandatory sanctions against the racist regime, because. of its persistent defiance of the demand by the internat10nal community that it . dismantle apartheid. The world has for a long time been treated to a series of deceitful manoeuvres and tactics all designed to delay indefinitely Namibia's genuine independence or to substitute for an independent Government a puppet administration subservient to, and controlled by, the racist regime. These evasive moves by South Africa to delay further Namibian independence must be brought to an end. We call upon the Security Council to convene immediately and take a firm decision with respect to the implementation of its resolution 435 (1978), which remains the only internationally acceptable basis for the independence of Namibia. We now urge the Security Council to adopt an enabling resolution to trigger the implementation of the United Nations plan for Namibia's independence. This session is held against the backgroW'ld of a situation where the solution of the major problem of our time, namely, the elimination of nuclear danger, has entered a new phase. The ongoing negotiations between the united States and the Soviet Union in Geneva and elsewhere fairly demonstrate that they have embraced the commitment of intent to reduce offensive weapons systems. They have also shown the world that significant progress in disarmament can be attained if there is political will on their part to engage in genuine dialogue and negotia Hons. We welcome the recently concluded agreement between the United States and the Union of soviet Socialist Republics as the first ever involving an attempt at dismantling a certain category of nuclear weapons. Any success to this end should lead to further agreements on the larger issues of disarmament. Consequently, Kenya will continue to suppor t the wor k of the Conference on Disarmamen t and the effor ts of the super-Powersat arms Umi ta tion. The recently concluded Conference on the Relationship between Disarmament and Development formally recognized and accepted that there does exist a relationship between disarmament and developnent. To this end, reduction of military consumption of resources could lead to a healthier international co-operation for developnen t. I turn now to some legal aspects of the work of the United Nations which are of special interest to my delegation. Since the Law of the Sea Convention was adopted in 1982, the Preparatory Conunission for the International Sea-Bed Authority and for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has been meeting to translate the laudable principles enshrined in the Convention to a reality. My GOVernment has noted that although the preparatory work for the implementation of the Convention and bringing into being a universal regime for the exploration and exploitation of the deep sea-bed has been disappointingly slow, the last few sessions of the Preparatory Conunission have registered encouraging progress. We therefore welcome the decision of the Commission, on 17 August, in registering the first. pioneer investor. Kenya looks forward to the evolution of a practical sea-bed rnin ing regime tha twill ass ure the in terna tional community as a whole the full benefi ts of the resources in the deep sea-bed beyond national jur iSdiction which are the common heritage of mankind. Over the past year the wor Id economy has continued to lurch on an uncer ta in and perilous course. This assessment is fUlly corroborated by the overall thrust of our general debate her e and by var ious analyses available before this Assembly. This adverse trend has been punctuated by stagnant and sluggish growth and widening disparities, by increasing imbalances and inequities which operate to the detriment of the developing co un tr ies. As a reaul t the burden of economic adj ustments is being dispropor tionately shifted to the vulnerable economies of the developing countr ies, th us seriously impeding their economic growth and stulti fying the ir developnen t effor ts. This persistent world economic crisis has dealt a severely damaging blow to practically all the developing countries. Many of them are already mired in economic stagnation. Further contraction of their development process would not only undermine the social and pol! tical fabric of their societies but also pose an added threat to international peace and security. In order to avoid such grim scenarios, there is no alternative but to strive for an early resumption of world economic growth, reactivation of the develo~ent process, in particular in the developing countries, and a drastic reduction of disparities between the developing economies and those of the developed countries. International trade has traditionally been a vital engine for growth. Regrettably this function has now been gravely impaired. Rampant protectionism and numerous distorting devices, such as tariff barriers, export subsidies and voluntary quotas, together with numerous non-tariff barriers, in contravention or in circumvention of the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) have in recent years eroded the effective functioning of the international trading system. Moreover, the commitments by the 'developed countries to "stand still" and "roll back" protectionist measures remain practically unimplemented. In fact the liberalization of internat~onal trade has not only slackened but has also run counter to the interests of the developing countries, resulting in unsurmountable constrictions of their exports and severe impediments to their access to international markets. It is indeed a telling indictment of the present international trading system that the share of the developing countries in international trade has risen only very modestly over the past two decades. Moreover, their trade with developed countries has declined while manufactures imported from those countries have at the same time increased considerably and now represent a substantial portion of the total exports of the developed countries. It is almost impossible for us to discuss international trade without singling out commodities. The crash in commodity prices and the near disastrous situation in commodity markets warrant our serious and close attention. This crippling situation has affected the majority of the developing countries where commodity exports account for most of their export earnings. We are deeply disappointed with the operations of some of the existing commodity agreements. However, we urge tne need to pursue the full implementation of the Integrated Programme for Commodities, inclUding making the Common Fund operational as quickly as possible, to complete the pending negotiations on individual commodity agreements and to improve the system of compensatory financing facilities. At the heart of the current "development crisis" is the inadequacy of and private foreign investments have accentuated the problem of reduced net disbursements from official development assistance sources. Consequently, since the early 1980s the developing countries have ironically become net suppliers of capital rather than net recipients. This reversal of financial flows is central to the payments difficulties and financial crisis facing the developing countries. The external debt crisis is the most visible manifestation of these reversals ano casts a dark cloud over the entire international financial system. Few, and perhaps none, of the developing countries have been spared its adverse effects. The external debt crisis has reached alarming proportions engulfing the majority of the developing countries worldwide. Despite the most painful and strenuous adjustments by the developing debtor countries, debt servicing is also rapidly growing beyond their capacities to contain it and beyond their ability to withstand the resultant political and social pressures. Kenya was particularly encouraged by the positive and business-like climate which prevailed in the deliberations at the recently concluded seventh session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). It is worth recalling here that UNCTAD VII was unique in that its substantive discussions remained positive, non-confrontational and constructive. We managed~ for the first time in the history of UNCTAD, to adopt by consensus a Final Act recommending a number of policy approaches and measures to deal wi th debt problems, resources for development and related monetary issues, commodities, international trade and the problems of the least developed countries. It is now for the international community as a whole to work out the modalities for the implementation of the conclu'sions of UNC'rAD VII and translate them into reality. The General Assembly has a major role to play in this exercise, and I urge that before we conclude our current session we should be able to agree on the necessary modalities to enable us to put into practice the content of the Final Act as adopted by consensus in Geneva on 3 August. It is true that the magnitude of Africa's development crisis was spelt out at the thirteenth special session of the Assembly. The adoption by consensus of the United Nations Programme of Action for Africa's Economic Recovery and Development 1986-1990 raised great hopes for Africa's economic recovery. Regrettably, the international community has not yet adequately responded to the commitments it undertook in the Programme of Action. Kenya and other African countries are aware and convinced that the expected assistance from the international community as expressed in that Progranune of Action can only supplement their own efforts. In this connection, and as will be observed from the records of the recent summit meeting of the Organization of Afr ican Unity, economic recovery and development continue to be given topmost priority by our Governments. African Governments have also adopted a series of bold and raaical measures to save their econolnies from collapse and ensure fundamental restructuring and policy orientation geared to relaunching the continent on the path to self-sustained development. We have come to the forty-second session of the United Nations General Assembly in the hope that it will be able to establish mechanisms for tne evaluation (Mr. Onyonka, Kenya) of the implemen~ation of the Programme of Action. Kenya will participate fully, together with other Member States, to ensure a sucessful culmination of such exercise. At this stage we wish to reiterate once more the significance of the important role that can and should be played by the international community as a whole in the implementation process of the Programme of Action. We therefore appeal for the expeditious adoption of realistic measures to mobilize the resoures required for the successful implementation of the Programme, since time is not very much in our favour. We all recognize the mutual advantages that could accrue from economic co-operation between developed and developing countries and also from co-operation between developing countries. Economic co-operation among aeveloping countries should not, however, be seen as in any way the application of an isolationist policy. Rather, it is aime~ at achieving international co-operation of wider scope. Kenya has continued to work closely with, particularly, other countries of east, central and southern Africa in pursuit of different types of economic trade and other forms of co-operation. Kenya is a member of the Preferential Trade Area (PTA), which encompasses 15 member States of eastern and southern Afrlca, with a market potential of well over 160 million people. We are also actively involved in the 6-member-State Djibouti-based Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development, one of whose objectives is to give member states early warnings on drought, which continues to plague most parts of the continent. In the recent past we have also concluded agreements with most of our neighbours establishing joint consultative economic commlssions, including sectora1 commissions. It will be recalled that the Assembly, cognizant of the close interrelationship of economic development and environmental issues, established the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1983, through resolution 38/161. Today the Assembly has before it the report of the Commission, entitled "Our Common Future". I wish to record my delegation's appreciation of that excellent document, which we feel will be useful as reference material on the related issues of development and the environment. We congratulate Mrs. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Prime Minister of Norway, who so ably presided over the Commission. The Commission's propositions are consistent with policies adopted by the Government of Kenya, particularly on issues related to food security, energy, industry, housing and human settlements, to mention but a few. Kenya continues to appreciate and support the United Nations Environment Programme for its commendable work in the field of the environment. In another interrelated area, that of human settlements, I wish to put on record the Government of Kenya's appreciation of the role that the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (HABITAT), working closely with Governments and other concerned institutions, has continued to play to improve shelter conditions all over the world, particularly for the poorer and disadvantaged segments of the society. I also wish at this stage to reiterate the Kenya Government's full commitment to the right of all persons to an adequate standard of living, including adequate housing for themselves and their families. This year is being observed as the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless, which was successfully celebrated on the tenth anniversary of the formation of the COlronission on Human Settlements, in April, at HABITAT headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The International Year of Shelter for the Homeless has provided an impetus in mobilizing governmental, non-governmental and international support for shelter problems. We wish to appeal for continued support for the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements in oroer to enable it to cope w~th tne pressing cnallenges ot our time relating to shelter and homelessness. This year has also witnessed the successful holding of the International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, in June, in Vienna, Austria. Indeed, that Conference was an important milestone and a rich experience for most of us. We managed to adopt by consensus both the Declaration and the Comprehensive MUltidisciplinary Outline of Future Activities in Drug-Abuse Control. The Vienna' recommendations set forth practical measures that could contribute to the fight against drug abuse and illicit trafficking. It is now for the Assembly to work out modalities for the implementation of the Vienna Declaration, togetner with its Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Outline of Future Activities in Drug-Abuse Control. Kenya will co-operate fully with other Member States towards the realization of such an endeavour. Finally, let me recall here that we fully share the notion that peace cannot be maintained in a world where one third of the population lives in economic splendour while the other two thirds continue to wallow in the vicious grip of economic squalor, misery and human degradation. In promoting the establishment of a new international economic order and further strengthening international peace and security the United Nations system has, over the years, continued to pursue a noble task whose objectives are manifestly enshrined in the very ideals and' objectives of the United Nations Charter. Since Member States are solemnly committed to those ideals and objectives, each Member State has a role that it'can and must continue ~o play now. It is imperative that we make positive efforts to perceive our interdependence in a more comprehensive and enlightened perspective, for it is only through such a perception that meaningful recommendations and concrete action-oriented programmes can be evolved, qUickly agreed upon and thereafter implemented. Regarding the ongoing review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations, Kenya will continue to support initiatives or measures designed to strengthen the efficient functioning of the Organization. We will however resist any attempt to tamper with the fundamental principles and purposes of the Charter. Accordingly, in the implementation of resolution 41/213, care must be taken to ensure strict compliance with the provisions of the Charter. At th is for ty-second session of the Gener al Assem1y, we wish once aga in to reaffirm our commitment to the Char ter of the Uni ted Na tions and our respect for the rule of law enshrined in various international instruments. Such respect, in our ..dew, constitutes the only guarantee of the continued preservation of the basic rules of conduct between Sta tes, the only guarantee of the maintenance of in terna tional peace and security • I wish to conclude by wishing you, Mr. president, the Secretary-General and all representatives gathered here continued good health and success in our individual and joint pursuit of international peace, security and develoFment. Mr. LECJiAILA (Botswana)~ Mr. President, your great cOLlltry, the German Democratic Republic, and your region of Eastern Europe, have done the international community great honour in making available to it the services of such an outstanding internationalist as you are. We are confident that your stewardship will be rewarded with important achievements for our Organization. As a member of the General Committee, my delegation will give you its unstinting support as you carry out your tasks. I also congratulate my namesake, Mr. Joseph Reed, on the new career Upon which he has now entered. What can we say about your predecessor, Mr. Humayun Rasheed Choudhury? It was his tireless efforts and patient negotiating skills that brought about bold compromises on the difficult question of restructuring the United Nations system, a process that we hope is genuinely aimed at revitalizing the delivery system of the United Nations rather than at crippling the Organization. The Assembly will miss his authoritative gavel but it can take comfort in the fact that his successor is a man of no less sound diplomatic skill and experience. Our Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, continues to be a true successor of the great men of letters and impeccable credentials who have come to our Organbation to serve their fellow men. His annual reports are invaluable tools in our work. We must heed his advice on what needs to be done to deal with the intractable problems confronting us. My delegation salutes him and his staff at the end of another year of their dedicated service on behalf of us all. As the year 1987 draws to a close, there is mounting evidence that the international economic situation will not be much different from that of last year. The overall environment still presents blurred images and conflicting visions. Most economic observers agree that growth, even in the industrialized co un tr ies, remains sluggish and volatile. For the developing countries, this means that the spectre of woes that has haunted their economies in recent years, is still present. But for Africa, which in solidarity with the international community adopted the African Priority Programme for Economic Recovery (1986-1990) in this Assembly last year, the situation is particularly serious. The unity of purpose demonstrated at that historic session has not been vindicated. Although Africa has demonstrably tried to initiate the reforms called for by the Programme, the international economic env ironment has, on the other hand, deter iora ted sharply since last year, making nonsense of some of the reforms we have undertaken. The economically ravaged continent has enjoyed no relief. Prices of primary commodities from which African countries derive most of their foreign exchange remain terribly depressed, the debt burden has become unbearable, interests rates ar e still sky-high, exchange rates of major cur rencies have rema ined volatile, while protectionist tendencies are rear ing the ir ugly heads and mul tila teral official developnent assistance has been reduced. Add to this litany of economic woes persistent natural calamities ranging from drought, desertification and cyclones to crop pests and the popUlation explosion, as well as man-made ones, such as civil wars and destabilization: and one has a continent on the verge of economic collapse. The World Bank estimates that during 1986 the economies of developing countries grew by only 4.2 per cent of gross domestic product. This was hardly enough to cope with the popUlation growth rate, which is around 3.5 per cent in a number of these countr ies. African economies grew by only 1. 2 per cent in 1986. The prospects for this year are such that for developing countr ies the overall growth would hardly average be tween 3 and 4 per cen t of gross domes tic product. Out of these figures, the Economic Commission for Africa (EC'A) estimates that the African region will experience a growth rate of between 2 and 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product. The Commission has been quick to point out, however, that even these figures may have to be revised downwards, given the fact that in a number of African countries the output of cereal and agricultural products is threatened by new dangers. In spi te of the good rains tha t have fallen in some par ts of Africa, locusts and grasshoppers are threatening crop harvests in East and southern Africa, the Sahel and some parts of West Africa. In southern Africa, it is already clear that cereal harvests have not been good this year, owing partly to these pests and also to persistent drought and destabilization - destabilization caused by another pestilence, namely that of apartheid. Tne fact is that Africa has done its very best to implement the priority Programme. Painful structural reforms have been initiated in a bold attempt to rehabilitate and revitalize the economies of the continent in response to the Programme and the urgings of the international community. There is more than enough evidence of that, a fact to which ECA can attest, and what is lack ing is a decisive response on the part of the international community. While we sincerely apprecia te and welcome concrete pledges made at the special session, some of which we know will be made good, it is our studied ooncl usion, never theless, that. the international community at large has remained generally indifferent to our plight. And this does not help the reforms upon which we nave embarked. We are somewhat disappointed also that the recent seventh special session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Developnent (UNCTAD) held in Geneva has not met our expecta tions. The problems of resource flows, money and finance, commodities, international trade, and the least developed countries were basically hedged and thus left without any fundamental and permanent solutions. It is our hope that more follow-up efforts will be put forth to continue to seek meaningful and durable solutions to these problems. Similarly, we welcome the continuation of the Uruguay Round talks in the belief that they will find solutions to the problems of tariffs and non-tariff barriers which restrict free trade in the world to the detriment of third world countries. We, in Africa, are determined to play our role in the difficult search for solutions to these problems both in terms of developing strategies of self-reliance and in terms of playing the role of co-operating partners with other countries, especially the developed countries. It was in this spirit that an international conference on the challenge of Economic Recovery and Long-term Development in Africa was ~eld in Abuja, Nigeria, in June this year, and an African Symposium on Grassroots Development was held in Niamey, Niger, during the same month. Heads of State of the Organization of African Unity have also called for an extraordinary session on the debt problem in the not-too-distant future. My delegation also welcomes the setting up of an advisory group by the Secretary-General to look at the question of African resource flows. We hope the report of this eminent group will be considered seriously by those in a position to assist. The political agenda of the session is familiar. It is almost the same agenda we have seen year after year, session after session in the past several decades. In our part of the world, in that troubled region of soutllern Afr ica, the deadly menace of apartheid remains a source of great anxiety to the people of the region. The situation there is worse that it was When we met here last year. The country-wide state of emergency, through which the South African authorities had hoped to shield their strife-torn country against the eyes of the world and thus give free reign to the brutalities of apartheid, remains in force, but it has not given the country the peace it so desperately needs, nor has it made apartneid any less despicable and evil, or the pressure for change any less imperative. South Africa remains a violently racist and polarized country, despite the deafening rhetoric about reforms in Pretoria and Cape Town. Despite all the urgings of the international community for change - and dramatic change - black townships are still under military occupation and detentions without trial of anti-apartheid activists -.trade unionists, meffiPers of the clergy, students and even children - continue unabated. h'ven leader~. of the Uni ted Democratic Front, who have taken such pains to follow the rules of peaceful agitation for change, are either in hiding or in prison. Indeed, no organization or institution in South Africa which seeks to identify itself peacefully with the struggle for change has been spared. Universities have become the latest candidates for emasculation and/or pacification. This may come as a surprise but talking peace and change in South Africa has become a dangerous undertaking. I must repeat, talking peace and change in South Africa has become a dangerous undertaking, if not a crime, for those who are not part of the same government which does not want peace and change on terms acceptable to the totality of the people of South Africa. The visit to Senegal a few months ago by a group of white South Africans who have accepted the wisdom of talking peace with the real leaders of black South Africans has become an act of treachery in the jaundiced view of the rulers of South Africa. Those wno engage in such extra-parliamentary but peaceful activities have been threatened with dire consequences. My country remains adamant in its conviction that if there is a way out of the quagmire of apartheid - and we believe there is for the rulers of South Africa -,it is the way of peaceful negotiation, the kind of negotiation which the Commonwealth mission of peace that went to South Africa last year had tried to encourage, without success. We know what happened to that mission. It is not the kind of . negotiation envisaged by the so-called National Council on which "black moderates" are to be invited to serVe while the African National Congress of South Africa (A1~C) and those other leaders of black South Africa who are considered radical are to be included only on condition that they renounce violence. We ask: how can a government that employs so much violence - a government which has killed so many children, so many old people, men and women - simply to enforce apartheid demand renunciation of violence on the part of apartheid's victims, the very same people it kills with impugnity? As the Commonwealth negotiating concept envisaged, violence is to be suspended, not renounced, on both sides to enable the initiation of negotiations. ~his remains the best way to proceed with negotiations~ and the onus is on the Pretoria regime to prove that its lavish rhetoric on negotiations is not one of those transparent ploys it often resorts to to mask continuing intransigence on its part. °The necessary conditions have to prevail for meaningful negotiations to nave a chance of success. First, the white conununity, or its leaders, must accept asa fundamental and inescapable point of departure, the principle that nothing short of the creation of a truly democratic political order in a united non-racial South Africa will bring peace to that country. Nothing short of that would bring peace to that country. And an important corollary to that is the release from prison of the very leaders - Mandela and others - whose absence from amongst their people will not allow any negotiations to begin. Also necessary and crucial as prerequisites for a successful launcning of genuine and meaningful negotiations are: the lifting of the state of emergency, the removal of troops from black townships; and the unbanning of the African National Congress of South Atrica (ANe), Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) and other political organizations Whose unfettered participation in the creation of a new democratic constitutional order in South Africa is indispensable. Anything less is a waste of time. Just as we have said, and we say now, the so-called reforms are a waste of tlme - a waste of time and a vindication of our contention that all these reforms are designed to modernize the tyranny of apartbeid, to make it acceptable or bearable to its victims, if that were possible. It is nearly 10 years - and this is another scandal - since the Security Council adopted resolution 435 (1978) as a blueprint for peaceful decolonization,of Namibia. That the resolution remains a dead letter to date speaks uncharitably of the United Nations. Where is the Security Council which drafted resolution 435 (1978)? Where are the western Powers, tne so-called contact group that worked so hard nine years ago to have that resolution adopted by the Security Council? Why the silence, the inaction now t The failure to implement this important resolution cannot be explained away in any credible way, for the simple fact is that the Security Council has allowed itself to be enfeebled by the arrogance of a small Power, with the result that its own plan - its own blueprint - is likely to die an unnatural death. The United Nations Charter contains all the powers the Security Council needs to have its resolution 435 (1978) implemented. The Security Council must demand - and demand with conviction and with a determined sense of pur~ose and not with equivocation - that South Africa co-operate in the implementation of Security Council resolution 435 (1978) or face the consequences. In other words, the demand for implementation of that resolution calls for the same toughness and determination with which the implementation of Security Council resolution 598 (197b) on the Iran-.Iraq conflict is being pursued. We want to hear all the permanent members of the Security Council in unison, as we saw them the other day on television, threaten dire consequences if Security Uouncil resolution 435 (1978) is not implemented. That is what they have been doing with regard to implementation of Security Council resolution 598 (1987). But we do not see the difference between the two conflicts - the conflict in southern Africa threatens peace; the conflict in the Gulf threatens peace. Hence we do not see why people should spend sleepless nights and restless days trying to implement resolution 598 (1987), and when we ask them to implement resolution 435 (1978) they resort to the veto. We cannot understand that. So we call for a redemption of honour on the part of the United Nations: the United Nations must redeem its honour. The people of Nalnibia must not be forced to continue to die needlessly in a war whose termination was decreed by the Security Council nearly 10 years ago through the adoption of resolution 435 (1978). The South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) is ready, and has always been ready, to begin implementation. The Secretary-General has been itching for action. The front-line States are ready to be as helpful as they can in the implementation of the resolution. Too much is at stake in our region. Thousands of lives are being lost in wars whose root cause is the situation in South Africa - in other words, apartheid. Like the sword of Damocles the apartheid military Rlachine hangs over our heads. The majority-ruled States of the region have been reduced to war zones where bandit gangs in the employ of the Pretoria regime, complemented occasionally by its commando incursions, sow death and destruction. Massacres such as those that have been occurring with increasing frequency in the People's Republic of Mozambique are threatening to become the order of the day. Using Namibia as a buffer to protect white supremacy in South Africa and as a base frORI which repeated acts of aggression are co~nitted against its neighbours, Pretoria and its UNITA bandits are carrying out a scorched-earth pOlicy in the south of Angola where untold misery is a common plight, the common plight of the people who live there. The cost in destroyed economic infrastructure runs into billions of dollars. Of the nine countries of the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC), only the United Republic of Tanzania has not been physically affected by South Africa's war of destabilization. For the rest, the magnitude of the havoc wreaked by destabilization is ghastly. It is estimated that between 1980 and 1986 the cost in destroyed social and economic infrastructure in the SADCC States is roughly $US 30 billion. This is infrastructure ~ADCC needs desperately if its member States are to liberate their economies from South Africa's economic colonialism. But there is another cost which cannot be quantified: the cost in human life. How does one put a price on the massacred victims of Homoine, Majacaze, Mandimba, Mechungwe and Sena in Mozambique? How can we put a price on them? And yet the RENAMOs and UNITAs of this world still have friends here from tne Western world and elsewhere. South Africa is not alone in playing godfather, employer and financier to them. They still get weapons and stinger missiles from some Members of this Organization. There are those wno seem to derive comfort from the bloody carnage in southern Africa so long as their own interests, be they ideological or simply racist, are served. The countries of SADCC have no capacity to wage war against South Africa, nor is it their intention or ambition to acquire such a capacity. They have sought to devote their meagre resources and the energies of their peoples to the oevelopment of their economies in an endeavour to lessen their dependence on South Africa and to promote regional economic integra~ion in the spirit of the Lagos Plan of Action. In this endeavour they have sought and received the assistance of the international community. It is what we do with this assistance - tile bridges, oil storages, hospitals, schools and several other socio-economic infrastructures in the SADCC countries - which toe bandits and their South African supporters are reducing to rUbble. Is this what the people who give us aid want to see happen to their aid? Do they want to give us aid to build schools and hospitals only to allow them to be turned to rubble by their friend, the South African Government? We appeal to tne international community to help us end this madness. All we want for the countries of SADCC is to be allowed to develop our economies in peace and tranquillity. That is all we ask of the international con~unity. The Middle East has continued to be a hotbed of tension. There appears to be no willingness on the part of Israel to countenance the establishment of a homeland for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel continues to spread Jewish settlements in the territories it captured in war. Meanwhile, Palestinians remain in squalid refugee camps all over the Middle East, with no respite in sight to their misery. Botswana does not accept the supposed incompatibility of tne existence of the State of Israel within internationally recognized borders alongside an independent homeland for the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza. We believe that that is the only sure basis for durable peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours. My Government does not accept the policy of might is right, and we will never accept it. The Jewish people who have suffered for so long should not be the ones to show so much insensitivity to the plight of others, especially people with an equally sound and legitimate historical claim to the land of Palestine. The long-talked-about international conference on the Middle East must be convened with the full participation of all parties to the conflict, including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLu), because we believe that therein lies the hope for peace in the area. (Mr. Legwaila, Botswana) II I speak as one who comes from a war-torn region, but I still find the continuation of the Gulf war incomprehensible, for this is a war that really benefits no one, especially the two protagonists. The destruction it has wreaked on the economies and lives of the peoples of the two countries is horrendous and unspeakable. We appeal to the two sides to implement the recent Security Council resolution 598 (1987), calling for a cease-fire and an end to these hostilities. On the questions of Kampuchea and Afghanistan, we remain unshakeable. We remain convinced that withdrawal of foreign troops in each case would constitute a first important step to normalizing the political life of these two war-torn countries. Meanwhile, my country will continue to encourage international efforts whose aims are to find lasting negotiated solutions to both questions. We have noted in both cases that, indeed, efforts of one form or another have been made to try and promote solutions through dialogue. (Mr. Legwaila, Botswana) But as long as foreign troops remain in those two countries we remain convinced that the best way the United Nations can ap~roach the problem is to ask that those troops be withdrawn. The problem of Western Sahara continues to defy solution. One party to the conflict has just completed the building of the so-called defence wall. This move can only create more stumbling-blocks in the search for peace in the Maghreb. We reiterate our conviction that the good offices of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the United Nations remain the only logical means whereby the parties to the conflict can engage in a free and fair dialogue aimed at allowing the process of self-determination to take place in the territory. The question of Chad is important to us. That the people of that war-torn African country have never known peace since they attained their inaependence is a painful fact known to us all. This is why we attach a great deal of importance to the current efforts of the OAU to bring an end to the conflict. And we ask all strangers to that purely African conflict to stay away from it - very far away from it - and to refrain from inflaming the passions of the belligerents and making business out of the fratricidal horrors between those sister African countries, Chad and Libya. Looking at the Latin American region, we are encouraged that after a period of inactivity on the diplomatic front concrete steps have been taken to bring peace to the region. The agreement signed by the leaders of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador in Guatemala City in August has the potential to end fratricidal strife in Central America, if given a chance. It is our fervent hope that outsiders will not find other excuses to sabotage these efforts for their own selfish ends. Let the people of Central America lead the way to their own destiny. Let nobody tell them how they must run their own affairs. (Mr. Legwaila, Botswana) We similarly invest our hopes in dialogue in.the search for solutions to the problem of the FalKland Islands (Malvinas). The United Nations has always been ready to assist Argentina and the United Kingdom to resolve their differences at the conference table. The sooner they co-operate in tnis crucial endeavour, the better for peace and tranquillity in the South Atlantic. Botswana's position has not changed on the question of the reunification of Korea, because the factors that tutored us into adopting that position have not changed. We remain adamant in our insistence that: first, the two Koreas must be unified peacefully; secondly, there must be dialogue between the two sides to resolve common problems; and, thirdly, there should. be no foreign interference in such a dialogue. On the question of war and peace, Botswana welcomes the ongoing negotiations between the super-Powers aimed at reducing their nuclear arsenals. We have no doubt that any significant reduction upon wnich they can agree on this score will be welcomed by all nations. We urge them to persevere in this constructive endeavour. The holding of the International Conference on the Relationship between Disarmament and Development in New YorK during the period 24 August to 11 September this year was long, long overdue. Although its results were not anytning dramatic, the Conference nevertheless explored many worth-while possibilities that deserve serious attention in the future. The fact that there is an organic relationship between disarmament and development can no longer be in dispute. Resolutions of the General Assembly and Security Council must not oe taken lightly or dismissed with the Kind of contempt to which we have grown accustomed. The image and credibility of our Organization are not enhanced by tl1e very painfUl J fact that Cyprus remains an occupied country despite the adoption of Security Council resolution 365 (1974) ana ~eneral Assembly resolution 3212 (XXIX). Indeed, the,indications are that the grip of occupation is tightening. That is very sad, for Cyprus is a non-aligned country with impeccable bona fides, a Commonwealth member of no mean import and a third-world country whose only crime apparently is to have been placed by geography and fate, like my own country, near a powerful neighbour. Cyprus must not be allowed to perish under the heavy boot of military occupation. The United Nations must prevent this from happening. The independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-alignment of that harmless and peaceful island are very important, at least to the continuance of the precarious existence of small countries of the third world • . The OAU has finally adopted a declaration of its own on the protection of human rights. This is as it should be, for as neWly independent countries, some of which are literally still trying to find their feet or bearings, we have a lot of human rights to protect, because the process of growing up following decades of colonialism is not always a peaceful one. None the less, we deeply believe that no human life should be devalued on any basis whatsoever, be it ideological, religious, ethnic or racial. We pay homage to the High Commissioner for Refugees for his selfless dedication to the cause of refugees. We have found his work invaluable and would urge increased support for him in his difficult task. The terrorism perpetrated by individuals, groups of individuals and States which have lost their sense of humanity is a universal scourge. My country is pleased to note that there is now a concerted international effort to combat this Scourge in all its aspects or branches, including state terrorism. States enjoy no (Mr. Legwaila, Botswana) exemption, regardless of their size and the POwer at their disposal. All forms of terrorism are evil and must be fought without ~et. Drugs also continue to wreak havoc in the wor id. The young generation of today is a hallucinated generation. We note wi.th satisfaction the outcome of tne International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, held in Vienna this past summer. The steps and remedies that were agreed there must be implemented without delay. The United Nations may not have been able, in the 42 years of its existence, to satisfy all our expectations in the struggle for the creation of a better world for mankind. Indeed, the agenda before us clearly shows that we still 1 ive in a dangerous world - a far: cry from the k. ind of world envisaged by the founding fathers of the Organization. But we are not bereft of hope. The United Nations is tne best human edifice ever built. Our imperfect world would have been far worse without it. So I reaffirm my country I s unshakeable faith in the Organization, and I say this with the confidence and hope that it can still use all its potential to respond decisively to the needs of our troubled world in order to remain faithful to its principles and attain its objectives. (Mr. Legwaila, Botswana) Hr. MAYNARD (Bahamas); on behalf of the Gaver nmen t and people of the commonwea1 th of the Bahamas and on my own behalf, I extend warm congra tu1a tions to you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of this Assembly. My delegation, aware of your competence and experience in diplomacy, is confident that important agreements can be reached on many of the problems facing our Member states. I take this oppor tuni ty also to commend Foreign Mini~ter Choudh ury of Bangladesh for the skilful manner in which he conducted the business of the forty-first session of the General Assembly. On 19 JlI'1e the Bahamas electorate returned my Government to an unprecedented sixth term of office. This vote has given my Government a strong mandate to continue to promote effective programmes for the economic developnent and political stability of the Bahamas. As a res u1 t of th is vo te, my Gov ernmen t can con tinue to use its voice and energies for the advancement of this great world forum. My Government therefore takes this opportunity to encourage our SeoretarY-Genera1, Mr. Perez de Cue11ar, in his leadership role in this Organization, to implement measures that would elicit greater co-operation among States, thereby minimizing confrootation. There are perennial problems on the United Nations agenda, such as those of the world economic situation, the debt, drug trafficking and abuse, disarmament, regional conflicts and, in Africa, apartheid, political unrest, economic stagnatioo, drought and famine which beset much of the continent. The African proo1ems defy easy solutions because of an unwillingness to join fully in the war on apartheid on the part of those countries which could do the most to effect change. I shall, however, be focusing only on those issues in respect of which my delegation feels it can offer some suggestions or practical observations which will contr ibut.e to progress in their resolution. In this vein, I should like to address In the final analysis, the question is not whether small States are viable entities~ history has already answered this question in the affirmative. The crux of the matter, in fact, is that if ambivalence continues to prevail in respect of small Sta tes they do then become burdens. All of us have hear d the wis e observa tion:. give a man a fi sh and you feed him for a day; teach a man how to fish and you feed him for life. Small states need only understanding, patience and productive ass is tance. We, in the ca tegory of small States have iden ti f ied goals and projects in respect of which such requirements should be met. We have some of the tools to attain our goals and fulfil our projects. What we now need is the means to imprOl1e these tools and the forbearance to let us work out our own destiny. Within the special category of small States is an even more specialized grouping of States that require particular attention and understanding on the part of the international community. This is the grouping of island developing states., to which geography has bequeathed more constraints in relation to their size than blessings. In addition to economic and social burdens, such as dependence on one or a few commodities, external debt and a shortage of administrative personnel, which beset other developing Sta tes, island Sta tes face not only smallness of size but remoteness and sometimes great distance from market centres, constraints in transportation, a limited internal market and general lack of natural or traditionally viable natural resources. Nevertheless, if permitted to enjoy an effective level of self-reliance as well as in ternal s tabili ty, small sta tes can strengthen rather than threaten international order, peace and collective security. Mother year has passed and the abhorrent apartheid regime of Sou th Africa persists, despite increased pressure by the international community, as well as the private sector, through resolutions, calls for divestment, demonstrations, sanctions and embargoes. World pUblic opinion has swung firmly to our side; it is clear that the Botha regime has lost the struggle in psychological terms, but there are still many obstacles to overcome. The poison of Pretoria continues to affect the neighbouring country of Namibia, which cries out for its rightful place as an independent Sta te in the in terna tional community. It is time for us, the people, to face the effects of compl ici ty when it comes ro south Africa and Namibia. If we do not, we all become as guilty of oppression and murder as those Sta tes which back away from exercis ing eoonomic pressure and poli tical influence on South Africa. In 1985 the Conunonweal th Heads of Gaver nment, meeting in Nassau, came to gr ips with South Africa's intransigence with regard to dismantling apartheid. Under the chairmanship of Sir Lynden Pindling, Prime Minister of the Bahamas, the Heads of Government appointed the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group on Southern Africa. For six months in 1986, in which its members travelled extensively in southern Africa, the Eminent Persons Group worked to promote a process of dialogue for change, ending apartheid and establishing a genuine non-racial democracy in South Africa. sadly, the Government of South Africa listened, but did not hear: acknowledged, but did not act. Consequently, the Cornmonweal th convened a mini-summit of seven countries in London to attempt to place increased pressure on South Afr ica. With Sir Lynden Pindling as Chairman, the Governments of India, Canada, Aus tral ia, Zimbabwe, Bd ta in, Zamb ia and the Bahamas r eaf firmed a commi tmen t to the Commonwealth accord on southern Africa concluded at Chogm in Nassau. Because of Pretoria's unwillingness to negotiate, the group of seven, with the exception of Britain, agreed to adopt economic measures against South Africa as a moral and political imperative. (Mr. Maynard, Bahamas) When Commonweal th Heads of Government convene in Vancouver next week, the Bahamas assuredly will be in the forefront of the fight for racial equality and freedom in all southern Africa. In the view of the Bahamas there must be unqualified acceptance of the urgent need for action to dismantle apartheid in South Africa. Meaningful measures must also incorporate practical commitment to infrastructura1 issues such as the abolition of discriminatory education. In that context, the Bahamas Government welcomed and supports, through contributions to the Commonwealth Secretariat, tne Commonwealth South Africa Scholarship Fund, which administers the Commonwealth Nassau Fellowships established at the 1985 meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government in the capital of the Bahamas to help educate South Africans disadvantaged by apartheid, 50 that they can acquire the skills likely to be required for the progress of a post-apartheid South Africa. The Bahamas Government has also consistently supported United Nations programmes for oppressed and refugee South Africans, inclUding the United Nations Fund for Namibia and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Also, to curb significantly front-line States' economic dependence on South Africa and to safeguard their security against South African aggression it is imperative that assistance to these States be increased. Apart from the question of economic dependency on South Africa, the security of front-line States is constantly being violated by South Africa either by direct aggression or by material assistance to armed opposition within front-line States. It has been ascertained not only that South Africa uses internal and external aggression to frighten front-line States into abandoning their support for the black majority, but also that it exploits their economic dependence through the jobs given to nationals of front-line States. Further, the provision of those jobs ignores mass unemployment among black South Africans, depresses the general wage level and enables the South African Government to maintain control of the labour force. To assist in curbing front-line States' economic dependence on South Africa, the Bahamas has contributed financially to United Nations programmes as well as to the non-aligned fund for the front-line states. (Mr. Maynard, Bahamas) To ignore the elements just enumerated is to nullify the sacrifices, personal and financial, which many nations, organizations and individuals have made with a view to dismantling apartheid. It could contribute to the fire of revolution, which could make ashes of the achievements of the billions of aollars frolu Western developed nations invested in South Africa. Moreover, it could cause the poison of Pretoria to suffocate forever the independence and freedom of Namibia. Therefore, despite the attention now being focused on the internal situation in South Africa, renewed emphasis must be placed on the blueprint for the independence of Namibia contained in Security Council resolution 435 (197~). In 1985 the world economy slowed down, and in 1::186 aid so again. That, of course, was to the detriment of many developing countries, particularly those in Africa. Developing countries with the least amount of econom1C diversity have suffered the most as a result of this worsening situation. Overwhelmed by foreign debt, many of these developing countries find themselves in unstable domestic situations and with negative growth entrenching itself as a way of life. Compare that debilitating economic scenario of developing countries with the situation of the developed market economies, which experienced growth in per capita income in 1986. This is a picture that does not say much for the implementation by the United Nations of the economic principles of its Charter. The correct path was indicated to us at the seventh session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. The consensus document that emanatea from that session can serve as a significant guiding light for the internat10nal community in efforts to rectify the world economy. I wish to underscore here its prescriptions for sustainable and non-inflationary grow~h in aeveloped countries and an environment conducive to accelerated growth for developing countries. Those (Mr. Maynard, Bahamas) prescriptions are a co-operative and flexible strategy on the question of international debt, a halt to protectionist policies and the shouldering by industrialized countries of their responsibility to foster a more stable and predictable economic environment, especially in the area of cOffiITLodity prices. The Bahamas Government continues to direct a strong appeal to the super-Powers to work together to reach mutually satisfatorybilateral accords. These should be supported by complementary arms-control agreements extending to other nuclear, militarily significant, States. Serious efforts at arms control must also be accompanied by such meaningful acts as the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones and the abolition of the use of chemical weapons • .The World Disarmament Campaign and the world disarmament conference proposed in paragraphs 15 and 122, respectively, of the t"inal Document of the tenth special session of the General Assembly, devoted to disarmament, constitute golden opportunities for challenging the people of the world, young and old, to make a concrete contribution to disarmament, or at the very least to global agreement that arms at their lowest quantitative and qualitative levels must be only tne last resort. in conflicts among nations. There are at present encouraging signs that the United States and the Soviet Union, aided by the courageous and historic commitment of Chancellor Kohl of the Feoeral Republic of Germany, are on the verge of an agreement which could draw the world back from the threat of the use of nuclear weapons. My Government applauds these rare acts of political will in the interest of national and international security. (Mr. Maynard, Bahamas) The benefits to the world of reduced spending on armaments are incalculable. The Bahamas would support all measures aimed at disarmament-fuelled development, especially those that would enable the expertise and technology now expended on the arms race to be applied to global problems such as pollution control, prevention of disease and other projects which only await funding. The Bahamas supports disarmament-fuelled development to bring all people everywhere an acceptable standard and quality of life. The situations in Afghanistan and in Central America, to cite two glaring examples, are instructive in that they both illustrate that rigid adherence to spneres of influence by the two super-Powers in the context of balance-of-power politics does not contribute to a stable world order. The Bahamas, therefore, continues to call for the total witndrawa1 of foreign forces from Afghanistan and additionally submits that the negotiation of agreed guarantees for the restoration of non-alignment to Afghanistan is perhaps the only enduring solution to the internal suffering and political stalemate which the conflict in that beleaguered country has produced. The Bahamas is heartened by the demonstration of political will in the Central American sUb-region, which has followed the direction and the intensive efforts of the Contadora Group and its Support Group to find a peaceful solution to the intra-regional conflict. The Bahamas, therefore, welcomes the Central American Presidents' plan on procedures for the establishment of a firm and lasting peace in Central America, signed on 7 August, and the act of installation of the International Verification and Follow-up Commission, signed 15 days later by their Foreign Ministers, the Contadora Group and Support Group countries and the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States. Both these initiatives merit maximum international support as evidence of genuine commitment to the restoration of peace in Centrai America. In this context, the Bahamas therefore encourages relevant United Nations organs, such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to offer every practical assistance to Central American Governments at every stage of the implementation timetable for the peace plan. Given the serious economic and social problems which are to a large extent the root causes of conflicts in Central America, international assistance is a crucial element if peace is to result from a return to the path of progress through economic and social justice. The resolve of the international community to counteract the devastating and destructive phenomena of drug abuse and illicit trafficking has resulted in unprecedented drug control initiatives. The most significant effort in recene years was the International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (ICDAIT) held in Vienna earlier this year. ICDAIT successfully brought together those in the forefront of drug control - representatives from the United Nations system, Governments and intergovernmental organizations. Of equal importance was the spirit of compromise and co-operation that guided the work of the Conference and resulted in the adoption by consensus of its principal documents - the comprehensive multidisciplinary outline and a Declaration. The momentum of ICDAIT also had a positive effect on the work of the intergovernmental group of experts which met immediately after the Conference to begin work on a new convention against illic~t trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The success of efforts such as ICDAIT and tne new convention ought not be measured simply in terms of consensus documents. The level of success will become evident with time as Governments exercise the political will expressed in the Declaration and implement, through regional and national legislation and practices, the measures recommended in the comprehensive multi-disciplinary outline, as well as the Treaties and relevant resolutions and decisions of the United Nations on drug abuse control. The Bahamas will remain part of this struggle against drug abuse and drug trafficking because it believes that in the interests of domestic, social and global stability the war against drugs must be won. By way of conclusion I wish to remind members that we are living on a shrinking planet, made so by technological breakthroughs in communication, transportation and science. It is self-evident that decisions taken at the United Nations can be transmitted technologically and through direct personal intervention to all parts of the globe within seconds or a maximum of a few hours. Therefore no member can continue to plead ignorance or helplessness with respect to the plight of our brothers and sisters on this planet. We are either victims or beneficiaries of our own actions. It is thus essential to accept that we are our brother's keepers and cannot sit idly by when he suffers. I am convinced that under your guidance, Mr. President, some if not all of the issues confronting our cOMuunity will be fully aired and resolved. Mr. OULD N'UIAYAN~ (Mauritania) (interprepation from Araoic): On behalf of the Mauritanian delegation, Sir, may I first congratulate you on your well-deserved election to the presidency oi the forty-second session of the ~eneral Assembly. Your moral and intellectual qualities and the wise, constructive positions taken by your country are assurances of the smooth functioning of the work of the session. We also congratulate your predecessor, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, on the outstanding way he presided over the work of the forty-first session, and Ambassador Reed of the United States of America on his appointment to his lofty office. I also express to the Secretary-General once again our country's respect and confidence in him and I thank him for the effective, far-sighted way in which he performs the task entrusted to him. We also welcome his efforts to promote international peace and security. A rapid survey of the international situation makes clear the scale of the dangers threatening the future of mankind. The economic crisis continues to worsen and its effects are being felt more severely each day. The North-South dialogue, on which such great hopes were placed, is, and may continue to be, stalemated. World growth is below the level reaChed in the 19605, which suggests there are several years of recession ahead for our economies. The gap continues to widen between the developea and developing nations. The per capita income of the developing countries fell by 4 per cent at the very time when a 3.5 per cent increase was recorded by the industrialized nations. The conjuncture of deteriorating terms of trade, the debt burden, protectionism and the acute instability of financial markets explains this alarming trend. The deterioration in terms of trade reached new heights in 1986 with the fall of commodity prices to their lowest level since the Second World War. At the same time, the price of manufactures continued to rise, wiping out the results of efforts to redress the balances of payment of the deveJ.oping countries. The strengthening of protectionism in the developed countries, the weakness of commodity markets and the meagre South-South trade are throttling our young industries. Lastly, the scale of debt and above all the scale of debt servicing have resulted in a veritable financial haelnorrhage for our economies and have seriously undermined our export earnings, already weakened by the deterioration in the terms of trade. The consequences of these factors for the economies of the developing countries have been disastrous. Unemployment, hunger, disease, illiteracy and social crises are becoming widespread. Several development projects and social programmes have been rendered impossible, and everything suggests that this tendency will continue in future. This situation cannot but be a cause of concern to the whole international. community, since no one can live in isolation and it is unthinkable for a minority to continue to live in opulence while the overwhelming majority of the peoples of the world have intolerable standards of living. We are duty bound to become involved in a process that can overcolne the present crisis. This process should begin with global negotiations, characterized this time by the determination to achieve concrete results. The short-term objective must be to take immediate steps to re4ieve the suffering of the peoples of the third world, and, over the long-term, the objective must be to make deep-seated reforms in the international economic system in order to establish a just and equitable new order. That is the path of salvation, prosperity and peace, and no one is entitled to stray from it. This economic situation has seriously afflicted Africa, which alone has to bear one fifth of the debt burden of the third world. We continue to place our hopes in the implementation of the united Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development, and we whole-heartedly desire a special conference on the African debt to be convened. One of the scourges threatening our continent is drought and desertification, which persist despite a slight improvement in rainfall. According to forecasts by specialists, the forests of Mauritania, for example, could disappear in a few years if there is not a marked improvement in climatic conditions. Mauritania has joined with other States of the Sahel, within the context of regional organizations, to combat that threat and promote the economic and social well being of the peoples of the region. Nationally, .. a vast programme· of economic recovery and growth has been in effect since 1985 and tangible results - such as a substant~al reduction in the budget deficit - can already be seen. The rural sector occupies pride of place in this programme. The long-term objective is to achieve food self-sufficiency, in accordance with the guidelines laid down in the United Nations Progran~e of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development. At present we are receiving significant food assistance, and we take this opportunity' sincerely to thank friendly countries and United Nations agencies for this generous aid. Unfortunately, everytning suggest~ that for several years to come we shall continue to have to appeal to them, but we are already beginning to earmark tnis assistance for production. Our policy of "Food for Work" and the assistance rendered by the Common Counterpart Fund for Food Aid are intended to encourage and stimulate activities for community development. The donors are fully involved in the distribution and management of food assistance. That testifies to our determination to work in an open and businesslike way. Our National Government, led by Colonel Maaouya Ould Sid 'Ahmed Taya, President of the Military Committee for National Salvation and Head of State, is convinced. that the battle for development requires the mobilization of all our energies and the establishment in the country of a climate of confidence. That conviction prompted the decision taken on the morrow of the restructuring of 12 December 1984 to declare a general amnesty for political detainees and to restore all individual and collective freedoms to citizens. The participation of the citizens in the management of their own affairs became a reality with the organization in December 1986 of free and democratic elections in the municipalities - the first in the history of our country. The elections took place in complete freedom, with many candidates and without any trace of pressure. Our citizens will soon vote in all the departments, in the same conditions, to choose their local representatives. Mauritania is experiencing a climate of unprecedented freedom. The rights of the citizens are respected and protected, and, internationally, this policy has been.crowned by the ratification of several international instruments relating to human rights. Another, no less important, dimension of our policy is the fight against illiteracy, the clarion call for which was given in the historic appeal of 20 January 1986 by the Head of state himself. The objective is to eliminate illiteracy by the 1990s and to make all citizens aware of the stakes, challenges and realities of our age. Mauritanian women are playing an increasingly important role in various sectors of national life. Educating them is a particular concern of the public authorities. The programmes against illiteracy are particularly directed to women, and their full involvement has become a fact with the attainment by several women of senior posts in the Government. T.he international political situation is still characterized by instability and the persistence of flashpoints of tension throughout the world. In the Middle East, ..Israel continues to carry out a policy of constant aggression and systematic occupation of Palestinian and other Arab territories. It is frantically undertaking changes in the physical and demographic character of those territories, with .a view to their final annexation. This policy of fait accompli, expansion and aggression maintains a climate of violence and instability, and it endangers international peace and security. (Mr. QuId N1Diayane, Mauritania) The question of Palestine is the core of the. Middle East conflict, and there can be no just and lasting peace in the region without total and unconditional withdrawal by Israel from the Palestin~an and other occupied Arab territories, including the Holy City of El~Qods, and recognitiol1 o~ the territorial and national identity of the Palestinian people by means of the free exercise of its right t~ self-determination and the establishment of ~. sover~ign ~tate in its homeland, under the leadership of its authentic, legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In that context, the convening of an international conference on the Middle East under the auspices of the United Nations, with the full particip~tion of t~~ PLO on a footing of equality with all the other parties, would be an important step, and Mauritania welcomes the efforts deployed towards that end this year. In southern Africa, the apartheid regime, an ally and .partner of the Zionist entity, is pursuing with equal zealousness a hateful racist, repressive and expansionist policy against the peoples of South Afr ica, Namibia and the front-l.ine States. Within the borders of the Republic of South Africa, the Pretoria regime is taking an increasingly hard stand, demonstrating that the so-called constitutional reforms were a mere farce. ~auritania rejects Pretoria's racial policy and reaffirm its support for the heroic, just struggle led by the African National Congress. In Namibia, the Pretoria regime is pursuing its policy of occupation and repression and systematically violating the relevant united Nations resolutions, particularly resolution 435 (1978), adopted unanimously by the Security Council. That resolution remains the sole acceptable basis for a just and lasting settlement of the question of Namibia. Pretoria's aggressive policy is directed against all the States in the region and indiscriminately harms civilians and the vital economic facilities of those States. The regime's constant use of force, in defiance of international law, is a challenge to our Organization and to tbe entire international community. Mauritania remains convinced that no just and lasting solution to the problems of southern Africa can be achieved without the total elimination of the policy of apartheid, the establishment of a democratic, egalitarian regime in South Africa and the complete independence of Namibia. In the Gulf, the deadly war between two neighbours that are Members of the United Nations continues. It effects every country of that vital region ot the world and is a dangerous threat to international peace and security. Mauritania is deeply devoted to agreement among Islamic nations and desires the security and stability of the Gulf countries. For seven years, therefore, it has been calling for an end to that war by peaceful means. The United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and other bodies with the same good will have taken initiatives to that ena. (Mr. Ould N'Diayane, Mauritania) Today we are witnessing the danger of an extension of the conflict, with threats to freedom of navigation in the Gulf; hence it is vital that the international community do its utmost to implement as soon as possible Security Council resolution 598 (1987). In tnis regard we pay tribute to Iraq's openness to all the peace initiatives, particularly Security Council resolution 598 (1987), and hope that Iran will follow the same course. with regard to the question of Afghanistan, Mauritania remains convinced that only a political solution based on the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country and respect for its independence and sovereignty - thus opening the way to national reconciliation and the establishment of an independent and neutral national government - can restore peace to that struggling brother people. As regards Kampuchea, Mauritania reiterates its support for the resolutions of the Assembly on the question, and reaffirms the need for foreign troops to be withdrawn from Kampuchea so that the Khmer people may freely decide their own future. With regard to the situation in Central America, Mauritania commends tne efforts of the Contadora Group and its Support Groups to promote peace and stability in that sensitive region, and hopes that their eftorts will be crowned with success. I return to the African continent and the fratricidal conflict between the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Chad. We ardently hope that the ad hoc committee of Heads of State set up by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to find a final solution to the conflict will be successful. On our immediate borders, the problem of western Sahara continues to be one of our major concerns. With its many close links to the parties to the conflict, Mauritania considers that there can be no just and lasting solution without a shared desire for understanding and dialogue. Therefore, we support the commendable efforts being made, particularly by the United Nations and the OAU, to find a solution to the conflict. Peoples of our region yearn for such a solution, which will allow the freeing of all the potential that exists for the construction of the great Arab Maghreb. Mauritania will firmly resist any attempt to involve it in that fratricidal war, and will maintain its policy of strict neutrality. My Government will continue to do its utmost for the restoration of peace and harmony in our region and for the building of a united and prosperous Maghreb. The conflicts to which I have referred are taking up nearly all the resources of many developing countr ies, preventing them from devoting those resources to the well-being of their peoples. Astronomical sums are devoted each year to the aesign, production, development and stockpiling of weapons, at a time when more than two thirds of mankind cannot meet their basic needs. That is a challenge to morality, common sense ana logic. It is terrible to have to say that never has mankind been so close to self-destruction, in a century in which man has discovered the secret of the atom, conquered space and acquired considerable socio-political rights. It is scandalous that despite our great scientific knOWledge and technology and the enormous social and political progress that has been made, we cannot even guarantee the perpetuation of the human race, the fruit of the suffering, sacrifices and laborious efforts of past generations, which lived in a much more difficult environment. General and complete disarlllament, a fundamental goal of our Organization, unfortunately appears as remote as it is crucial. My country devoutly hopes that the efforts both within the United Nations and outside will contribute as soon as possible to the realization of that goal, and thus remove mankind from the scourge of war and at the same time release part of the enormous resources currently devoted to the arms race to economic and social development. The growing impoverishment of the overwhelming majority of mankind ana the imbalance in international economic relations, the persistence of armed conflicts and the arms race are challenges to our Organization, which is callea upon to bring about a world of peace and international solidarity and ensure economic, social and cultural progress for all peoples. History will jUdge our Organization on the extent to which it realizes the principles and purposes of the Charter. In that regard, the Member States - especially the great Powers - have particular responsibilitiesJ they have the duty to do everything possible to ensure the success of the noble and universal mission of this indispensable instrument of international peace and co-operation. Therefore, their words and their deeds, their principles and their purposes, should flow from their adherence to the Charter. The complexity, universality and seriousness of current problems relating to peace and the world economy make multilateralism indispensable. Its strengthening demands the renunciation of all kinds of selfishness and compliance with the requirements of our age - the sovereign equality of States, democracy in international relations and the establishment of a just and equitable economic system. My country is aware of the institutional weaknesses and imperfections of the United Nations, but it also fully appreciates its important successes in such diverse fields as the economic, social and cultural, decolonization, peace, education, health and other related specialized areas. Mauritania reiterates its firm attachment to the noble ideals of the Charter and its faith in the need to develop friendly relations between States, achieve international co-operation based on mutual respect and advantage and preserve the United Nations as an instrument for harmonizing the efforts of nations to achieve those common goals. That devotion to international co-operation, peace and tne peaceful settlement of disputes results from the nature and·history of my country. At the hinge between Africa and the Arab world, Mauritania is a land where cultures and civilhations meet. Its geographical position makes it the pivot for understanding and co-operation between those two nearby, complementary reg ions. That role dates back several centuries, to the time when our Mahadras welcomed students from all the regions of Africa and our scholars went to teach in the great Arab universities. Moreover, our land was, and still is, a crossroads and a trading centre. Our devotion to peace also derives from our roots in Africa, where persuasion and debate are the usual course of conduct, and from the teachings of our holy religion, Islam, whiCh makes understanding, assistance to others and tolerance a religious duty. Those principles recur as a leit motiv in the Koran and the Sunna. Thus Allah, the All-Powerful, tells us in the Holy Book: "Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, But help ye not one another in sin and rancour." (The Holy Koran, v: 3) Mr. LASSOU (Chad) (interpretation from French): On behalf of the Chadian delegation I congratulate you, Sir, on your election to preside over the forty-second session of the General Assembly. We are convinced that under your leadership the session will examine vigorously and effectively the matters on its agenda. You may rest assured of the full co-operation of my delegation during this session. I should also like to express my delegation's gratitude and thanks to your predecessor, Mr. Humayun Rasheed Choudhury, who conducted the proceedings of the I wish to take this opportunity also to pay a well deserved tribute to Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar for the tireless and constant efforts he has made to promote peace and development. We are happy to see a friena of Chad, Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed, occupying the place of the person responsible in the Secretariat for matters relating to the General Assembly. He can count on our support to succeed in his new tasks. In recent years my country, Chad, has experienced particularly difficult situations, which almost put into question its very existence as a State. Not only was there chaos because of the aggression and occupation carried out by Libya, but natural disasters added their calamitous consequences. For a long time Chad's enemies succeeded, through all kinds of tactics, in pitting Chadians one against the other, transforming an international dispute into merely a domestic one. Now that these sordid and dilatory manoeuvres have been exposed thanks to the awareness of all Chadians that they belong to one, single nation, united Chad has come face to face with its true enemy, its neighbour Libya, which because of its territorial greed and its desire for hegemony is occupying and attacking our country. Libyan aggression and occupation were unmasked at the beginning of this year through the heroic attacks of Chadian patriots, who destroyed the powerful air and land bases built by Libya on Chadian territory. Faaa, Ouadi, OOUli, Faya, Zouar, Ounianga, Bardai, Wour and Aouzou have all become graveyards for tne occupier and incontestable proof of its aggression against Chad. The powerful equipment of these air and land bases proves irrefutably that townships deep inside internationally recognized borders clearly indicates the diabolical and hegemonistic designs of the Libyan regime. This Libyan aggression against Chad has today been recognized by all States who sincerely love peace, justice and freedom. On the basis of a still-born Franco-Italian agreement, the fascist and racist regime of Tripoli has since 1973 beleaguered the Chadian area of Aouzou, from which it organized armed aggression against the rest of Chadian territory, spreading its occupation OVer the whole area of Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti - some 550,000 square kilometres. Is there any need to remind you that Qadaffi dreams of creating a. so-called United States of the Sahel, of which he would be the leader? According to Qaddafi's logic, Chad should serve as a stepping-stone to the achievement of these colonial objectives of another age. While reserving the right to use any means to recover the occupied territories, Chad is sparing no effort to bring ~addafi back to his senses by peaceful means. Chad has always loyally co-operated with the Ad Hoc Committee of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), set up in Libreville in 1977. ~his Committee has therefore been studying tois conflict for ten years, but because of Libya's arrogant and contemptuous refusal to co-operate in its activities, the Ad Hoc Committee has to date been unable to take a final decision. Libya's bad faith and dilatory tactics, and its contempt for the Pan-African organization, for the United Nations system and for law in general are now well-established facts. This is proved by the fact that Libya did not attend the meetings of the Committee and of the Sub-Committee of Experts held from 28 to 29 April and 18 to 20 May 1987 at Libreville under resolution AHG/RES.158 (XXII) of the OAU. By the same token,. though explicitly invited by the GAU at its twenty-third sUJluoi t meeting to (Mr. Lassou, Chad) take part in a meeting of Heads of State who were members of the Ad Hoc Committee on the dispute between Libya and Chad, Qaddafi did not deign to make the trip co Lusaka on 23 September 1987. Confronted with such a contemptuous attitude, the Chadian Government thought it necessary to bring this dispute to the General Assembly so that the whole world would be aware of the barbarous actions of the ~addafi regime. The inclusion of the question of the aggression and occupation of Chad by Libya in the agenda is in keeping with this logic. Our action is well founded for day after day Libya is violating the cease-fire requested by the Acting President of the OAU, to which it freely sUbscribed. Indeed, scorning, as usual, the appeal made by the Acting President of the OAU, Libya is obstinately continuing to violate Chadian air space, concentrate its troops on the border and in the area of Aouzou, and engage in massive recruitment of mercenaries of all nationalities, especially Palestinians and Lebanese. This bad faith was evidenced at Lusaka by Libya's refusal to accede to the Ad Hoc Committee's request that it hand over any relevant documentation within a month. In fact, Libya has no documentation to support its claims. It is merely playing for time. Because of all the international agreements between the administering Powers of Chad and Libya and those between independent Libya and France, and later between Libya and independent Chad, Aouzou is Chadian territory. We have brought proof of this to the Security Council just as we did before the Ad Hoc Committee of the OAU. We defy Libya to do the same. When a State, like Qaddafi's Libya, defies the ent1re international cownunity so blatantly, international law and morality demand that it be treated as an outlaw, that it be condemned for its acts and all the ills it causes other States (Mr. Lassou, Chad) Through me, Chad therefore calls on the international community to assume its responsibility and demand that Libya act in conformity with the law and with the relevant principles set forth in the United Nations Charter and in that of the OAU, as well as resolution AHG/RES.l6(I), which enshrines the principle of the intangibility of frontiers inherited from colonial· times. For tnis the international community must demand that Libya immediately ana unconditionally withdraw its wild and barbarous hordes from Chadian territory. Moreover, the human and material losses inflicted on Chad by the Libyan regime are immeasurable. It goes without saying that Libya owes Chad compensation for war crimes, and the international community has a moral obligation to demand that Chad be compensated. (Mr. Lassou, Chad) The war of aggression the Tripoli regime is imposing against Chad has destroyed its entire economic infrastructure and disorganized its administration. The Government of the Third Republic has attempted to restore State authority and rehabilitate the economy. The support of the international community has been decisive in implementing the reconstruction programme. In this connection, in November 1982 friendly countries and international oryanizations, together with the Government of Chad, laid down the main direction for such rehabilitation. In December 1985 international solidarity was again demonstrated wnen we passed from the phase of rehabilitation to that of reconstruction and development. Here again, the conference of donor countries held at Geneva enabled Chad to work out a temporary development plan that is now being implemented, and that plan, if totally carried through within the necessary time-limits, would enable Chad to attain its 1978 growth level, which should constitute a solid basis for recovery of the national economy. Despite the encouraging results achieved in restoring the economy, many obstacles still reloain. Indeed, so long as the production capabilities of other sectors of the economy are not strengthened, the State will remain alone to face the actual needs of Chadian society. The decrease in the price of cotton, Chad's main export, which represents 35 per cent of its budgetary resources, has considerably reduced our State's scope of action. The situation is even n~re serious since the cotton lndustry, which is the basis of most of our modern production and distribution sector and which is the country's main inconle-producing element, now has a serious deficit. This crlsis has of course influenced the country's overall industrial activities. The budget deficit, which the State is attempting to contain, remains. Taxes on tne export of cotton have been suspended, and the State must go deeper into debt to support that industry's restructuring activities. Further, drought has gravely affected if not decimated livestocks, Which represents the other essential element of the national economy. This has brought total poverty to cattle raisers whose sole source of income was cattle breeding. Thanks to the assistance of certain international bodies the Government is trying to reconstitute herds, but such actions, encouraging as they are, require long-term planning in order to ensure proper health in the herds. In addition, the cattle raisers most affected should receive assistance either to reconstitute their herds or to shift to other productive activities. To problems involving the depletion of budgetary resources we must add the strict minimum the State must provide persons displaced either by Libya's war of aggression or by drought and desertification. In this connection the situation of the populations in the Bokou-Ennedi-Tibesti area deserves the special attention of the international community, and particUlarly of humanitarian organizations. Those populations, who were forced to flee the Libyan invasion in 1983, abandoning all their property, and who are today attempting to return to their recently liberated townships and villages, are the innocent victims of random bombings and other barbarous actions by the Tripoli regime. Such combined problems further reduce the financial means the State should normally be devoting to improving sceio-economic structures. If the agricultural picture of 19B6-1~87 was relatively good thankS to sufficient rainfall throughout the national territory, the present year will be bad because of the unequal rainfall over time. Further, we are experiencing an increase in locusts and grasshoppers, which are estimated to number 1,400,000 per hectare in certain areas. That situation dangerously compromises the goal of food self-sufficiency set by the Chadian Government. After the heavy rains at the end of May and beginning of June the situation suddenly worse~ed throughout the month of July and drought has destroyed first growth in some areas. We are therefore again forced to address an appeal to the international community to express its solidarity once more and to help us to augment our own efforts. The economic recesssion, which has led the world to the present crisis, is far from over. For the developing countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa, the crisis has serious repercussions that have compelled tnose countries, lacking in resources as they are, to review their development strategies. Thus Africa is in the throes of a particularly acute economic crisis exacerbated by the fall in raw-material prices. This situation, marked by a widening in the gap between industrialized and raw-material-exporting countries, was brought to the attention of the international community in 1986. A special session of the United Nations General Assembly was devotea to the critical economic situation in Africa. A year later, we may question the benefits of that session. Although the majority of African countries are embarked on a basic restructurion~ of their economies, the expected outside assistance has barely begun to trickle in. Together with the natural disasters that have stricken some African countries, efforts at restructuring, if not supported by a sizeable inflow of capital frOlll outside, and especially from the developed countries, will be doomed to futility. Evidence of this is the fact that at present the African countries are experiencing greater outflows of capital than they are taking in. It goes without saying that repayment of principal and debt-servicing are in large part responsible for this imbalance that is so seriously affecting the growth policies of African countries. In addition, it would be highly desirable if concrete measures could be taken to find a solution to the debt problem. In addition to the serious economic problems, there are the armed conflicts that are delaying the progress of developing peoples. The conflicts shaking Africa and Asia, as well as Latin America, are also of concern to my delegation. With regard to the Middle East, Chad has always supported the Palestinian cause. At the Islamic summit meeting at Kuwait in January of this year, President Al-Hadj Hissein Habri stated: '''The Republic of Chad is at one with the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people, and we thus support the idea of an international conference to be helo under the ae':ilis of the United Nations." However, we were astonished to learn that Palestinian brothers have been recruited, at considerable cost, to fight against tne people of Cnad in Chad~ Are we to understand that our Palestinian brothers have abandoned the liberation struggle of their own country, or are they merely giving ~n to the temptations of the international mercenary system? We would ask the same question of the Lebanese wno have followed suit. Would those Lebanese not be better off striving to protect the unity and independence of their own country? In the Persian Gulf the war between two fraternal countries, Iraq and Iran, is continuing, in spite of the many appeals and efforts at mediation and in spite of Iraq's oft-repeated readinesss to enter into dialogue. My delegation unreservedly supports the implementation of Security Council resolution 598 (1987), unanimously adopted on 20 July 1987. The occupation of Afghanistan has been going on for eight years, in spite of the numerous resolutions of the General Assembly calling for the withdrawal of soviet troops from that country. Like any foreign occupation, this one has pernicious effects that often drive those concerned into exile. Chad, which has experienced Libyan occupation, can only express its total sympathy to the Afghan Africa remains infected by the odious apartheid system. The minority racist regime of South Africa continues to keep the black majority outside the management of the country's affairs and deprives it of all rights. That same policy has been extended to Namibia, where the facist regime of Pretoria defies the United Nations by refusing to put an end to its occupation and apply Security Council resolution 435 (1978). To perpetuate its domination, the minority regime spares no effort to destabilize the front-line countries, which are the frequent victims of murderous South African raids conducted under the pretext that fighters from the liberation movements of southern Africa are harboured by those States. The liberation movements and the front-line States can rest assurea of the firm support of Chad. My delegation reiterates the frequent appeals to South Africa to cease its incursions into the territories of the front-line States, withdraw unconditionally from Namibia and immediately start to set up a multiracial society in which all communities can participate on an equal basis in the management of the affairs of the state. The people of Democratic Kampuchea has suffered for many years from the horrors of a war of occupation imposed upon it by Viet Nam. My country, which has always supported the efforts of the countries members of the Association of south-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and those of the United Nations to ensure respect for the independence and sovereignty of Kampuchea, demandS the immediate and' unconditional withdrawal of all occupation troops to enable the Kampuchean people freely to decide on its fate, under the direction of the legitimate Government, led by His Royal Highness Samdech Norodom Sihanouk. With regard to Central America, we encourage the peaceful initiatives of' the Oontadora Group and express the hope that the peace plan proposed by Mr. Oscar Arias Sanchez, President of the Republic of Costa Rica, will make it possible finally to find a lasting solution to the problems of the area. As everyone knows, peace has no price. It is, indeed, the fundamental condition of any social and economic progress. However, some States Members of our Organization like to create conflicts and exacerbate them to serve their diabolical plans for domination, well aware that they are violating the United Nations Charter, to which they have committed themselves. Chad believes in the virtues of dialogue and has never missed an opportunity to show this. It believes that the United Nations must be involved more deeply in the search for solutions to certain so-called regional conflicts. The United Nations would thus be working for peace and in favour of the law, in conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter. In expressing the wish that states would act more in conformity with the principles of the Charter, which they accepted by becoming Members of the United Nations, the delegation of Chad reaffirms its full faith in the Organization and expresses the wish that this session will find the solutions so long desirea for the problems which are a matter of such deep concern to us.