A/47/PV.9 General Assembly

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Bolivia. Mr. Jaime Paz Zamora. President of the Republic of Bolivia, was escorted into the General Assembly Hall.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations the President of the Republic of Bolivia, His Excellency Mr. Jaime Paz Zamora, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President PAZ ZAMORA: I first had the honour of addressing the General Assembly in September 1989, shortly after assuming the presidency of Bolivia. I anticipated then that the vertiginous changes taking place in and around us would bear the hallmark of what I termed the revolution of democracy. Today, after all we have experienced in this brief but intense period, we can see more clearly that the growth of universal awareness among men and women has not only given democracy, as a system, a global dimension for the first time in the history of mankind, but has also meant that its power for change and its potential for transformation are clearly challenging old ideas, old structures and old habits. I will say without fear of contradiction if I may be permitted to paraphrase what someone has said that democracy is racing round the globe, no longer a phantasmal newcomer but rather a wind of renewal and hope. Accordingly, what we must now surely call global democracy is shedding new light on old truths, leading us to understand better, for example, that power is, by definition, something to be shared; that we need a new and better understanding of the dynamics of consensus and dissent; and that the various forms of intermediation necessary for social life are now in crisis. Indeed, the more complex the organizational processes of a particular government, as is the case in democracy, the greater the need for that power to be shared if we wish to see it adequately maintained and developed. By the same token, the more rudimentary and simple power is, as is the case in authoritarianism and dictatorship, the less evident is the necessity of sharing power. Similarly, we can now see that the useful consensus on the basis of which the old democracies of the industrialized countries were built, with government and opposition thinking and acting virtually in the same way, seems to citizens a worn-out mechanism that hampers change. Paradoxically, at the opposite pole, in the young democracies of developing countries, the citizenry zealously calls for consensus as an essential means of uniting the nation's forces in pursuit of indispensable changes. It would seem, then, that where the art of consensus was perfected, the need is arising to learn how to manage dissent in an appropriate way; and where dissent had become a way of life and a cause of stagnation, there is a need in turn to learn how to build consensus. This could well be described as the dynamics of consensus and dissent under democracy. As to the forms of intermediation to be found in social life, we also see that the citizens of universal democracy are striving to reduce intermediacy, striving to take the initiative in everyday life in a more direct way. It is then that the citizen comes to regard intermediation as something of his own that is inescapable, genuine, close, efficient, transparent and representative. Therefore, we should not be surprised today to find a state of crisis in the political, religious, trade-union and cultural forms of intermediation, and even in that great intermediator, the State itself. This last point is especially useful and relevant as we turn to an examination of the present state of our Organization, for, in our view, what has come to be called the crisis of the United Nations seems to be in essence nothing other than a crisis of intermediation. I say this because in fact we have always thought that the United Nations represents the most advanced mechanism of intermediation on Earth but that, in order to continue to be such, it must adapt itself to the newly emerging global scenarios of the revolution of democracy. For nearly half a century after its inception, the United Nations played the privileged role of intermediary during the era of hegemonic blocs and the cold war. That indicated the quantity and quality of intermediation possible within that context, at the same time creating a way of sharing international power and a method of managing the dynamics of consensus and dissent, within the prevailing balance, managing in that context to determine even its own structure, organization and functioning. Under that old order, the United Nations achieved great credibility. And although in many places peace was not always preserved, the Organization achieved something that appeared impossible: prevention of a nuclear conflagration between opposing and seemingly irreconcilable blocs. But things have changed dramatically and, with them, so must our Organization. In saying this I believe I am voicing what all of us in the Assembly are thinking. It is clear that the new world order needs new credibility, which the United Nations must earn. The citizens and nations of global democracy are placing unavoidable challenges before our Organization, challenges that reguire us to adapt its structures, modernize its machinery and identify new priorities and thus the new intermediation that is possible in terms of quantity and quality. And, with no other aim in mind than that of seeking answers, allow me to illustrate these ideas by describing a few selected developments which, in addition to being new, have the common feature of having gained global proportions, which makes them particularly deserving of the Organization's keenest attention. The first of these is what I would describe as the dialectic of the universal and the particular, or, alternatively, the dialectic of universalisms and particularisms. I am referring to the obvious fact that peoples today are expressing two attitudes that are seemingly contradictory but are none the less part of the same dynamic. On the one hand they are striving for complementarity through processes of integration that are laying out ever broader geographical, political, economic and commercial areas that already constitute a new world geography. On the other hand, simultaneously and paradoxically, those same peoples and citizens are reaffirming their identity and their essence, sometimes intransigently demanding their own cultural, historic, religious, and immediate political frameworks. In an apparent contradiction, they seem to be trying to experience, simultaneously and complementarily, the great and the small, the longer-term and the immediate, the universal and the particular. The second of these developments arises from the fact that the market economy has gained ascendancy in the same manner as democracy and, together with them, the awareness of a better life and the need for well-being and human and social development have also become global. Consequently, we face as never before the urgent need for a form of solidarity that will enable us to hit upon an appropriate relationship between the market economy, democracy, and human development. That solidarity, by emphasizing social development and, for many of our countries, in a frontal assault upon poverty, will enable us also to redefine the foundations of new social legitimacy for States, internally and internationally. The third development has to do with something that we agreed upon at the recent Conference in Rio de Janeiro. We live in a single global ecosystem and we are all jointly responsible for its conservation and clean-up. We also agreed that little purpose would be served by preserving a world to be inhabited by an impoverished human race, which clearly implies that the ecological stewardship of the planet does not rur counter to our peoples' needs for development. Consequently, it remains for us promptly to endow the (President Paz Zamora) Commission on Sustainable Development with the resources, powers and machinery it will need to fulfil the objectives we have set for ourselves. That means implementing Agenda 21, a true plan of action for the next century, as a point of departure for offsetting the historical environmental debt we have spoken of in other forums. The fourth development pertains to technology. In the joint deliberations the Presidents of the Ibero-American countries engaged in to mark the Quincentennial of 1492, we concluded that the final explanation for all colonial processes is to be found in a confrontation in which the winner achieves ascendancy by virtue of his technological superiority, and that this first technological defeat lies at the root of dependency and marginalization. We then agreed that in order to redress that situation it was necessary to share technological power more democratically, and that one appropriate way to do so might well be to declare as the common heritage of mankind those basic technologies that are indispensable to satisfy adequately the equally basic rights of mankind: health, nutrition, education and housing. I venture to reiterate that initiative before the Assembly with an explicit proposal by Bolivia to the international community that we should seek participatory, creative and markedly personal machinery that would become the main thrust of the work of the social summit we should now convene. The fifth, and last, development I wish to bring to the attention of the Assembly relates to a right which is already recognized under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of our Organization, which states that everyone has the right to "seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." (resolution 217 (III). Article 19) (President Paz Zamora) Representatives will surely agree that in recent decades technology has turned information, too, into a phenomenon of equally global proportions. At the same time, the universal revolution of democracy has instilled an unprecedented awareness among citizens of their right to inform and be informed. That growing awareness is in turn linked to the observable fact that the gap now separating the well-informed citizen from the poorly informed citizen seems quantitatively and qualitatively greater, or at least equal to, that other gap separating extremes of wealth and poverty. All of this leads us, in modern terms, to the perception that information has become the Gordian knot or, if you wish, the crossroads of human rights. Indeed, although it may appear an arbitrary simplification, the better-informed citizen eats more and better than the citizen who is not well-informed and has greater opportunities, among other things, to obtain access to better health and education. The problem becomes all the more acute when, as mentioned earlier, information today has become a phenomenon that is increasingly dependent on advanced technology and, conseguently, the exercise of the right conferred by the aforementioned Article 19 of the Declaration really depends on each citizen's greater or lesser opportunity to have access to technology on an egual footing. I believe that a matter of such great importance requires special treatment and attention on the part of our Organization. With that in mind, it seems most appropriate to suggest that serious and urgent consideration be given to the inclusion as a central focus of the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 the topic of citizens' information. I say "citizens'" information because I am not referring to that other matter, relating more to information among nations, which came to be known as the "new international (President Paz Zamora) information order". Rather, I am referring to the citizens' right to information and to the urgent need to guarantee, in principle and in reality, equality for mankind with regard to information. I wish to share with the Assembly my impression that, if we keep up with history in moving along this road, we will be arming mankind against what might be the most serious threat to democracy: the new authoritarianism, or, if you prefer, the great dictatorship of the twenty-first century - the perverse, systematic, sophisticated, invisible and elusive subjugation of the citizens to the distorted and monopolistic control of information technology. Allow me now to devote a few moments of my statement to recent developments in my country. The curtain has just fallen on a period which is now gone, perhaps never to return. In my country, the signs of new times are much more visible than in other regions. Members here have themselves often expressed that judgment and often urged and encouraged the efforts of my people, who may now take pride in achievements that have impressed sceptics and enlightened those whose minds were weighed down by the weary logic of the past. Bolivia is a nation at peace, and, collectively and individually, it is perhaps one of the safest on the continent. It has consolidated its democratic system and is making concordance the basic instrument of its political endeavours. (President Paz Zamora) On 9 July, all my country's political parties Government and opposition, right and left made a solemn commitment to carry forward in the coming months the basic tasks of modernizing the State and society through judicial, electoral and educational reforms, reforms in the administrative and political machinery and, finally, reforms in the Constitution itself. How encouraging it is to have left behind the Bolivia of factionalism, one of the nightmares of the twentieth century, and to be entering the twenty-first century free of those shackles. We have built, first, financial stability and, then, growth. To do this, it was necessary to face squarely the need to carry out the in-depth reform and modernization of the economic system. That reform stands on four foundations: stimulating competitiveness in the economy and freeing it from tariff barriers, subsidies and State protection; expanding the scope for private initiative in order to achieve the broadest citizen participation in economic growth; stimulating investment, generating employment and extending the benefits of development to the majority of Bolivians; and transforming the State into an efficient manager respectful of solidarity, and into the main party responsible for infrastructure and human development. In this way, and based on the wisdom and capabilities of its people, Bolivia has achieved the lowest rates of inflation in South America in the last three years. At the same time, its growth rate was one of the highest in the region, and per capita income has grown systematically during my Administration. All of this has brought us to a time of happiness and harmony. For the first time in my country's contemporary history, there are more Bolivians coming back than leaving, and more money flowing in than flowing out of (President Paz Zamora) Bolivia. Never before has so much been invested in health, education and basic sanitation, simply because we have never had as much access as we have today to concessional resources, which are coming to Bolivia thanks to the international community's confidence in the responsible way in which my country is being governed. We are building an optimistic Bolivia, a Bolivia with a future and with international stature. While Bolivia is a country which reaches the Atlantic through the major watercourses of the Amazon and the Rio de la Plata, it is by history, geography and culture a country of the Pacific Ocean. There is no better place than this forum of peace for me to reiterate that an unjust war deprived us of the status of a maritime nation, in which our life as a republic began, and thereby turned Bolivia into a country without a seacoast. The Bolivian people will never give up its aspiration to the sea and to a sovereign and useful presence on the Pacific coast. It matters not how much effort and sacrifice may be required in pursuit of that objective. To this end, we have laid out a strategy of peace and integration, a gradual and pragmatic strategy by which an appropriate solution to Bolivia's landlocked situation can be found that could be generally and mutually beneficial to the countries of the region. Proof of the soundness and impact of that strategy is the outcome of the Mariscal de Santa Cruz agreements signed with Peru on 24 January in the southern city of Ilo. Although not encompassing the sovereignty to which we aspired, and although not in the location which historically is rightfully ours, agreement has been reached on a commercial and industrial duty-free zone and on administration of the port by Bolivian and Peruvian entrepreneurs. Moreover, a tourism area of 5 kilometres of beach has been granted, and it has already been named "Boliviamar". (President Paz Zamora) Three years ago I described to the Assembly Bolivia's national strategy to fight the production of, trafficking in and illicit consumption of narcotics, a strategy which my Government was then beginning to implement, asking the international community for its understanding and support. In 1989 there were reasons to fear that drug trafficking might irremediably corrode the political and institutional system of Bolivia, that it might come to dominate the economy as a whole and might lead, sooner or later, to escalating violence. Although at that time there were doubts as to Bolivia's ability to carry out the plan, today I can say categorically that cocaine traffic has ceased to be a strategic risk for Bolivia. Bolivia is proof that the struggle against drug trafficking not only is possible but can also be successful. Against the temptation to yield to discouragement and pessimism, Bolivia stands out as a symbol, as a banner of hope and optimism. We have systematically reduced the areas devoted to coca growing; we have reduced the production of paste and cocaine hydrochloride; we have taken firm action in the selection of specialized personnel, following criteria of efficiency and honesty; and we have broken up the main networks of drug trafficking in Bolivia by means of a decree-law known as the "Repentance Decree", as a result of which the leaders of these organizations are now in my country's jails. All this was possible because we managed to avoid the imposition from outside of concepts and plans ill-suited to our national reality. On the contrary, we forged ahead with a peaceful struggle, ruling out the militarization of the struggle and spared the country from the confrontation and violence which had occurred elsewhere. In the light of this unquestionably (President Paz Zamora) positive picture, Bolivia asks the international community to redouble its efforts to reduce consumption, to control chemical precursors and to increase quantitatively and qualitatively the resources allocated to improved functioning of alternative development mechanisms, Bolivia's substantive contribution to the body of knowledge on this topic. Above all, we ask most earnestly that the coca leaf not be confused with cocaine: the coca leaf is a good thing and is an expression of an age-old cultural tradition originating in the Andes; cocaine, by contrast, is foreign, alien, and came from outside. From this rostrum, I pay a tribute to all the Bolivians who made possible the enormous advances we have achieved in this fight against one of the cruelest and most pernicious forms of corruption in contemporary society. I wish to express my special thanks to the self-sacrificing workers and farmers of my country. Tomorrow, at the offices of the Interamerican Development Bank in Washington, intergovernmental meetings will begin with a view to defining the composition of the governing board of the Development Fund for Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, created on the initiative of the Ibero-American countries meeting at the Guadalajara and Madrid summits. (President Paz Zamora) Bolivia, a country of original indigenous stock, like so many others of our continent, asks the international community to support this programme, which is vital for the lives of many men and women, especially as we prepare to celebrate 1993 as the International Year for the World's Indigenous People with the theme of "Indigenous people a new partnership". This is the forty-seventh session of the General Assembly. But for the peoples of the Americas, and in particular the Ibero-American peoples, this session marks the quincentennial of 1492. It is therefore a psychological reality for us that one chapter of history is drawing to a close and another is opening, one in which mankind will continue its tireless search, discovering and building new worlds. That is why Bolivia, a peaceful country of the South, which is experiencing the profound challenges of development, is also concerned about the fate of the industrialized North, where, following the natural euphoria after the end of the cold war and the victory of democracy, there have been worrying signs of uncertainty, lack of confidence and pessimism. I say I am concerned about the North because, in contrast with the past, we are now all living in one global political ecosystem, where threats, risks, victories and failures have repercussions for us all. For its part, Bolivia is prepared, together with other countries, to run the shared risk of building a new and better world. In that endeavour, there is only one requirement: that no one ignore anyone else.

On behalf of the General Assembly I wish to thank

The Assembly will now hear an address by the Chairman of the National Provisional Ruling Council of the Republic of Sierra Leone. Captain Valentine E. M. Strasser. Chairman of the National Provisional Ruling Council of the Republic of Sierra Leone, was escorted into the General Assembly Hall.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations the Chairman of the National Provisional Ruling Council of the Republic of Sierra Leone, His Excellency Captain Valentine E. M. Strasser, and to invite him to address the Assembly. Chairman STRASSER: It is with a deep sense of humility that I ascend this rostrum and bring the greetings and best wishes of the people of Sierra Leone as we approach the close of one of the most momentous years in our recent history. Permit me to convey to you. Sir, warm felicitations on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its forty-seventh session. Your election is a tribute to your country and a testimony to its faith in this Organization and all that it stands for. I wish you success in the performance of your duties. The year 1992 has witnessed the accession to membership of our Organization of a record number of States, 13, thus bringing closer the attainment of the goal of universality envisaged in the Charter. To all these new Members, Sierra Leone extends a warm hand of welcome and friendship, feeling sure that together we shall cooperate in forging a new era of peace and progress and a better life for all the peoples of the world. (Chairman Strasser) Since Sierra Leone was admitted as the hundredth Member of this Organization some 30 years ago, we have come to regard this Organization as the custodian of international peace and security and as a bastion for the defence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of all States, and particularly small States such as ours. At the same time, this Organization has not failed to deploy yeoman's efforts in solving the many international problems of an economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian character which continue to plague us. In spite of all that may have been said and done, the United Nations in the course of its relatively short history has not only contributed to preventing the nightmare of a nuclear war but also made an invaluable contribution towards eliminating those other scourges that have afflicted mankind since time immemorial and continue to afflict it still. Sierra Leone is indeed very grateful for the unstinting all-round support it has received from this Organization and its specialized agencies in confronting these problems. I wish once again to pay a tribute to all those noble men and women who in the name of the United Nations and its agencies have participated in the socio-economic development of our country, in the eradication of diseases, in caring for the needs of our children and giving help and succour to our refugees and displaced persons. Sierra Leone owes a debt of gratitude to them all. Regrettably, the problems of poverty and underdevelopment have continued to have a direct bearing on our country. It is also a matter of regret that, despite the assistance received from this Organization over the years. Sierra Leone has not registered the necessary economic growth and development that should have brought about a fundamental and meaningful improvement in the standard of living of its people. The past 24 years have witnessed a decline in the socio-economic fabric of our nation, resulting in tremendous hardship (Chairman Strasser) and suffering for our people. Though the reasons for this are manifold and complex, in the case of our country, however, one of the principal causes has been a succession of bad Governments that conspired against our people and neglected their welfare, and that when not sharing the national wealth among themselves conspired with foreign elements to dispose of our natural resources at give-away prices, thereby depriving Sierra Leoneans of an improved standard of living and reducing them to second-class citizens in their own God-given land. Amid this nightmarish experience. Sierra Leoneans wondered what really had gone wrong with their country, endowed as it is with rich natural and human resources alike, a country that was once referred to as the "Athens of West Africa", given its rich educational and cultural heritage. Over the last 24 years. Sierra Leone experienced such a far-reaching decline in its socio-economic fabric that the average life expectancy of Sierra Leoneans was reduced to a mere 42 years, with one in four children dying before the age of five owing to malnutrition and other diseases; with vital surgical operations carried out in constant fear of a breakdown of the electricity supply; with teachers forced frequently to withdraw their services for non-payment of salaries and trying to eke out a living other than by teaching; with the capital city itself in perennial darkness for years because the Government had failed to make provision for electricity supply. All this led to the concomitant and inexorable decline in the national production and the standard of living of our fellow countrymen. While the external factors contributing to this decline cannot be denied, the truth of the matter is that the incompetence and malpractices of the previous Government had so permeated all facets of national life that the nation was left to drift without any sense of direction. Thus, instead of (Chairman Strasser) economic development, there was a national slide into poverty and economic malaise. It was as if the light had gone out of the nation's life with no one in charge to rekindle it. As if that were not enough, as members are aware, last year, as a result of the civil war which had been raging in Liberia, at a time when Liberians had turned against each other, engaging themselves in an orgy of massacre, the people of Sierra Leone opened their homes and schools to them and offered them sanctuary. In order to end the killings and conseguent suffering which they had to endure, and in the absence of any semblance of government in that country, the States of the sub-region, including Sierra Leone, with great reluctance and purely on humanitarian grounds, decided to send a peace-keeping force the Economic Community Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) to Liberia to stop the carnage and bring the fighting among the various factions to an end. It was because Sierra Leone provided a base for the ECOMOG peace-keeping force in Liberia that Mr. Charles Taylor and his band of NPFL rebels launched a premeditated and unwarranted invasion against our country. This senseless act of revenge was also motivated by the fact that Taylor had been denied the use of our territory to infiltrate arms and ammunition to prolong the conflict in Liberia. Thus, because we allowed our country to be used to bring peace to Liberia, we now have a war imposed on us. In the course of this act of perfidy, many innocent lives, including those of women and children, have been needlessly lost. The national economy has been laid to ruin, as no meaningful agricultural and mining activities could be undertaken in the areas of rebel activity. The cost of this imposed war for Sierra Leone and its people has been incalculable and agonizing. (Chairman Strasser) As the custodian of international peace and security, this Organization cannot sit idly by while a group of armed bandits, let loose as a result of the total breakdown of law and order in a neighbouring State, continues to engage in a campaign of terror and destabilization of the whole subregion. On behalf of the people of Sierra Leone, I strongly appeal to this body for its economic, military and diplomatic support to eliminate this cancer once and for all. If this is not done, there could be further destabilization and insecurity in the whole subregion. The Government and people of Sierra Leone expect and deserve such support, especially when facing mortal danger launched from without. We hold Charles Taylor responsible for the suffering Sierra Leoneans have had to endure as a result of his acts of murder, banditry and international lawlessness. My country need not have been left so exposed and so unprepared for such acts of aggression, our people need not have suffered such an ordeal, if only the previous government had taken its responsibilities seriously; if only the necessary material and logistical support had been provided for the armed forces to repel such aggression. The previous regime again failed to meet this challenge. Not only did the previous Government breach its social contract with the people and neglect their welfare, but it also failed to safeguard the territorial integrity of the nation. These factors impelled us, as patriots in the armed forces, to intervene in a bloodless takeover on 29 April this year and set up the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) to save our nation from further catastrophe. Herein lies the legitimacy of our action. We intervened because we saw no way out of our affliction, no future to match the sacrifice that people had been asked to make over many years. In assuming so onerous a responsibility, my colleagues and I had no personal ambition to assume power for its own sake. We saw it as our patriotic duty to take bold and forthright action to save our beloved country from the political, economic, social and moral decline that had overwhelmed it. As patriots, we felt we could not stand idly by and watch the total collapse of our nation. We had to act to put our country back on the road of socio-economic development and to restore its moral fibre. Ours was a very popular move, a case of unrepentant patriotism, as evidenced by the mass support we received then and continue to receive today. By our action, our fellow citizens have once more found strength and inspiration. Once more, the light in them has begun to glow and the fire to be rekindled. Notwithstanding such popular approval and the efforts we have exerted to rehabilitate and reconstruct the socio-economic fabric of our nation, let me declare from this rostrum that the government of the National Ruling Provisional Council has not come to stay in power. In the several decrees and proclamations issued since we assumed management of the affairs of the nation, we made our intentions and objectives quite clear. They remain the same: first, to bring to an end the rebel war imposed on our country and to rehabilitate the devastated war areas; secondly, to put our country's beleaguered economy on a sound and solid foundation; thirdly, to take all measures necessary for the recovery of all financial resources lawfully belonging to the Government; and finally, to relaunch the democratic process on a just, fair and lasting basis. With regard to the Liberian rebel invasion, my Government is employing all the resources at its disposal to ensure that our gallant soldiers, who are defending the nation at the war front, carry out their duties in the proper spirit and atmosphere. Not only are the proper logistics being provided for them, but their material welfare is being assured as well. But alas, against a weak economy such as ours and facing an aggressor that receives armed support from a country in our continent, which sees it as its mission to carry out revolutionary warfare and create instability in the various regions of our continent and beyond in the name of revolutionary ideals, my country should not be left alone to face such foreign onslaught. Hence my plea to this Organization for the necessary military, economic and diplomatic support to repel the invaders. The war has continued to attract attention at international gatherings. At the recent summit of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held at Dakar, for example, a far-reaching communique was adopted by the Heads of State which, among other things, gave Charles Taylor and his fellow rebels one month to fully comply with the Yamoussoukro Agreement, which includes, as an important element, the creation of a buffer zone between Liberia and Sierra Leone. Failing such compliance, all countries of the subregion would be required to impose sanctions against him and his armed bandits. We call upon the international community to lend full support to the efforts of ECOWAS and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to bring these senseless and reckless acts of banditry to a speedy conclusion. On the question of the rehabilitation of areas devastated by the war, my Government has adopted definitive measures that will be put into place as soon as peace returns to those areas. In this connection, a National Rehabilitation Committee has been set up to oversee this particular matter. It is for us a source of comfort that the international community stands ready to support us with a rehabilitation exercise as soon as the right atmosphere prevails. In so far as the second objective, regarding the revitalization of our sick and battered economy, is concerned, my Government has continued to be guided by the understanding reached with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. My Government has demonstrated its determination to keep the International Monetary Fund programme on course. The new 1992-1993 budget, which was recently adopted, was framed with this particular aim in view. The signs are that we shall succeed. A dynamic programme for the collection of Government taxes and dues has been launched by the Department of Finance, and weekly as well as monthly revenue returns show that effective work is now going on to harness all financial resources due the Government. The Department of Trade and the Armed Forces have taken effective steps to ensure that our basic commodities are not taken out of the country illegally, a practice which was rampant in the past. Naturally the undertakings subscribed to by our Government have not been easy to implement in view of the weak nature of the economy and the suffering it imposes on our people. Nevertheless, the National Provisional Ruling Council Government is determined to see the programme through because of its awareness that only by succeeding in this difficult endeavour can we hope to achieve meaningful economic salvation and progress in the near future. On the objective relating to the relaunching of the democratic process in Sierra Leone, the National Provisional Ruling Council firmly believes that a democratic system of government can operate only within certain parameters which, if absent, will abort that process sooner or later. When the National Provisional Ruling Council assumed the reins of government it also inherited an unresponsive bureaucracy which had aided and abetted the political system that had ruined the socio-economic fabric of our society. The National (Chairman Strasser) Provisional Ruling Council Government therefore found it necessary as a first step to embark on a cleaning-up exercise to provide the basis for building a sustainable democratic system. For reasons of national security, some people have had to be taken into protective custody while they are, naturally, being investigated. All such persons are being well treated and investigated in accordance with internationally accepted standards. They have been allowed access to their lawyers. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Amnesty International have been allowed to make regular visits. Recently, 18 Liberian nationals who had been detained for alleged rebel activities were released. The various commissions of inquiry set up to investigate the detainees, among others, have remained impartial. Those found innocent will immediately be released while those with cases to answer will face an open and impartial trial. I wish to reiterate here that the National Provisional Ruling Council Government is committed to the rule of law and to the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the individual. As an indication of our commitment to the democratic process, the National Provisional Ruling Council has established an advisory council made up of eminent citizens from various walks of life and of proven integrity to advise the Government on the restoration of the democratic process. The principal task of that council will be to work out the modalities for returning the country to genuine multiparty democracy in the light of our national experience and within the shortest time possible. Since assuming office four months ago the National Provisional Ruling Council has brought about a completely new framework and spirit within which affairs of State and Government are conducted. In the first place, a new drive has been launched to generate total commitment, dedication and efficiency on the part of all Government and State functionaries. Sierra Leoneans generally are being made aware that they should see themselves as first-class citizens in their own country and that the potential of their country, in terms of economic and natural resources, can be harnessed to the full only by hard work, honesty and dedication on their part. We have attempted to liberate Sierra Leoneans from shame, restore their vision of what our country should be and enable every citizen to enjoy the fruits of his or her labour. In spite of our youth we believe we have demonstrated that capacity for leadership, that concern for our nation's welfare that previous Governments had failed to provide our country in the past 24 years. The youthfulness of the National Provisional Ruling Council Government should therefore not be held against us or made a reason for not extending economic assistance to our country. After a long period of darkness and neglect, the men, women and children of Sierra Leone deserve the support of the international community. We in Sierra Leone continue to view with dismay the unfavourable international economic environment. The continuing denial of access to a greater market share for our exports, the gradual decline in export earnings and the continuing inability to meet the target for official development assistance, not to mention the shortfall in real terms of such assistance, coupled with the high percentage of our gross domestic product diverted to debt-servicing. Each year it has been reported that the countries of (Chairman Strasser) sub-Saharan Africa struggle to pay about one third of the interest due on their debt of $150 billion; the rest is added to the rising mountain of debt under which the hope of the continent lies buried. The fact of the matter is that even the small portion of the interest which developing countries such as mine manage to pay is absorbing one quarter of all our export earnings and costing us each year more than our total expenditure on the health and education of our peoples. It is in the light of this that the conclusion has been drawn that all our efforts at socio-economic development will come to naught unless and until effective measures are taken to address the African debt problem, which is now an unbearable burden. While Sierra Leone continues to welcome the various initiatives that have been proposed, including those first put forward by Prime Minister Major of the United Kingdom and since developed into the Trinidad terms, and to pay tribute to those creditor countries that considered it necessary to cancel some of our debts, it is the widely held view, after careful study, that the present initiatives cannot be even remotely effective in achieving the objective of relieving debt burdens sufficiently for African countries to have a reasonable chance of successfully achieving structural adjustment, recovery or growth in the foreseeable future. It therefore remains our firm conviction that our plea for debt relief is both compelling and humane and hence must be answered. For many developing countries especially the least developed, like Sierra Leone - negative growth has become an all-too-familiar feature of economic performance, with three-digit inflation among its worst features. Simply put, this is not a situation that can be sustained indefinitely. Invariably, the greater the stresses many of our countries are called upon to bear, the less likely it becomes for the world economy to assume its own steady growth. While the interdependence of the global economy cannot be over-emphasized, the fact remains that in a global recession the pain is all the greater for countries such as mine. It is primarily for this reason that we hope that the New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s, adopted by the Assembly last year, will attract a much greater degree of response and support than did its predecessor, the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development 1986-1990. The innovative and more positive approach that the New Agenda offers should be seized by the international community to arrest and reverse the downward trend that the severity of the many economic and human crises has inflicted on African development. We cannot afford one more failure in this enterprise. Serious as our domestic preoccupations are, we shall be remiss if we fail to see events taking place elsewhere as important. It is in this vein that we must once again register our deep concern over the bloody violence that in recent months has been visited on the people of South Africa. The massacres in Boipatong and, even more recently, in Ciskei have today become a metaphor for the struggle against apartheid - just as Soweto was decades ago. How many more lives have to be lost, how many more families must taste the bitter fruit of violence, before the South African Government realizes that the campaign of (Chairman Strasser) terror being waged by its agents merely increases the scepticism over its real intentions? If the South African Government is to continue to receive the cautious approval of the international community for its agenda of political reform of its society, it must demonstrate good faith by arresting the descent into anarchy and bringing the perpetrators of the violence to justice. Denials can no longer be seen as allaying the fears of those who fervently wish to see change come by peaceful means. Sierra Leone therefore supported the decision of the Organization of African Unity Summit to bring the matter once again before the Security Council. We welcome the decision of the Council and commend the Secretary-General for dispatching observers to South Africa. This demonstrated the international community's continued concern over South Africa, and it is our hope that the mission will help to bring a halt to the violence and will facilitate resumption of the talks aimed at a peaceful solution of the problem. Southern Africa continues to be plagued by conflict, and the human cost is a grim reminder of how much more needs to be done to bring hope to the lives of the peoples of the subregion, especially those of Mozambique. Too many years of conflict have done little but ravage the country and leave the people with not much to hope for. Lately, with the proposed ceasefire agreement, there have been some hopeful signs. We commend the role playod by various statesmen .in bringing this about, and we believe that the United Nations should bring its experience to bear in this final phase of the conflict. Now that a solution to the conflict is in sight, it is our hope that the world community will increase its humanitarian assistance to Mozambigue, in view of the famine that threatens the population. With preparations under way in Angola for elections leading to a national government, it is our hope that peace will once again reign in that war-torn brotherly country. Somalia today has the makings of a great tragedy. With the raging of war, and the consequent massive outflow of refugees from that country, it is essential that the international community respond much more urgently and vigorously to this catastrophe. We cannot afford to sit by and watch the people of Somalia descend into a quagmire of death and destruction. From this tribune Sierra Leone calls on the Somali leaders to stop the war a war that has caused so much suffering to their people end the national suicide and embark on a process of negotiation and reconciliation. We should like to express our appreciation to the Secretary-General for bringing this tragedy to the attention of the international community. The plight of the southern Sudanese people, though perhaps less visible and less reported, is no less tragic than that of the people of Somalia. As a result of a long-running civil war, millions of Sudanese are today languishing and facing a slow and painful death through neglect and famine and because of military siege. Given the perils and immense suffering facing them, we call on this Organization to intensify its humanitarian-assistance efforts and its efforts to find a durable solution to the civil war now going on in that brotherly country. The peoples of Somalia and Sudan require all the support of this Organization, and, indeed, of the international community as a whole, in this their hour of national tragedy. The current Middle East negotiations have renewed our confidence that there will be peace in that volatile region. We allow ourselves to hope that in the peace talks now taking place all the parties - Israelis, Palestinians (Chairman Strasser) through their chosen representatives, Syrians, Jordanians and Lebanese will work conscientiously and in good faith towards a resolution of decades of suspicion and conflict. What the world continues to witness in the former Yugoslavia defies human comprehension. The gravity and conseguences of that war are reminiscent of conduct that the world had wished was only a memory. As the war continues to unfold, we may once again be facing, in an insidious form, the dread effects of racism in the former Yugoslavia, euphemistically described as "ethnic cleansing". This time should be different. We are concerned over the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The world cannot afford to be silent over what may become yet another sad chapter in its history. The ongoing efforts to bring that conflict to a speedy conclusion and save innocent lives must be intensified. We call upon all the peoples of the former Yugoslavia peoples we so much respected and admired to hearken to our plea, to bury the hatchet and try to live in peace once more. (Chairman Strasser) In other areas of the world, the guns of war have fallen silent and peace is being given a chance. In Cambodia and Angola there is renewed expectation and hope that peace will endure. To all these peoples, we in Sierra Leone extend our best wishes and urge them not to be distracted from the path of peaceful solution upon which they have embarked. When I started my address to the Assembly, I referred to this year as being a momentous one. Few years have been as auspicious as this one. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held at Rio de Janeiro this year provided us with a renewed opportunity to demonstrate our respect for the environment and ensure that our efforts at socio-economic development and the elimination of poverty should not be at the expense of the environment. Hence, Sierra Leone welcomes and supports the call for sustainable development of the environment. Also in the course of this momentous year we have observed a renewal of faith in the United Nations as mankind's best hope for peace, security and progress. Nowhere was this more visible than at the summit meeting of the Security Council held on 31 January. We saw life breathed into a dormant concept, a blueprint take shape, and the first steps of a long-delayed journey charted. For over four decades the Organization has wrestled with itself, torn between competing ideologies, becoming a helpless spectator to conflicts across the globe, paralysed with the cold-war neurosis. Our collective actions during this period seldom bore resemblance to the vision of the Charter, embracing, as they often did, more an inclination towards the veto than inspirations by altruistic considerations. (Chairman Strasser) Looking back, many will say we came through a crippling ritual sorely testing the Organization's capacity for promoting conflict resolution, social progress and better standards of living, while undermining our own faith in the efficacy of multilateralism. History may yet treat us kindly if we seize this sense of moment, seeing it as one more opportunity for all of us to give birth to the dream of the Charter. As the Secretary-General observes in his report, "An Agenda for Peace": "The manifest desire of the membership to work together is a new source of strength in our common endeavour." (A/47/277, para. 6) Indeed, the road ahead may be a demanding one, replete with pitfalls, challenging the emerging metamorphosis while enticing us to return to the mentality of the past. We must therefore be driven by a focused determination to broaden our horizon of cooperation, acting in a manner consistent with the Charter, thus ensuring that the peoples of the world inherit the common ends envisaged by the Charter. In closing, I should like, on behalf of my delegation and on my own account, to pay a tribute to our Secretary-General who, since his election, has left no stone unturned in exerting himself to find peaceful solutions to the many problems facing our world today. We recall our first encounter with the Secretary-General earlier this year in Dakar during the summit meeting of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) when we came to appreciate his wise counsel, which we took to heart. He has been reported to be a man who was born to be Secretary-General. By his leadership and other qualities he has justified the confidence which we in Africa first reposed in him and which the rest of the international community later endorsed. We wish him continued success in his mission. (Chairman Strasser) Finally, I should like once again to appeal through you, Mr. President, to the international community for their understanding. Our intervention of 29 April was prompted by the highest of motives the salvation of our nation. Like most of the representatives in the Assembly, we are committed to the democratic process and to the fundamental human rights of our fellow citizens. We also happen to believe in good governance, that political power must be exercised responsibly and in the interest of those for whom it is held in trust. This is our credo. We therefore appeal to the international community to give us a chance, to enable us to plot a new course for our nation and its people, to lay a solid foundation for a genuine democratic process and to put in place a realistic programme of economic recovery and survival.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the Chairman of the National Provisional Ruling Council of the Republic of Sierra Leone for the statement he has just made. Captain Valentine E. M. Strasser. Chairman of the National Provisional Ruling Council of the Republic of Sierra Leone, was escorted from the General Assembly Hall.* * Mr. Aksin (Turkey), Vice-President, took the Chair. (Chairman Strasser)

The Assembly will now hear an address by the Head of Government and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Principality of Liechtenstein. Mr. Hans Brunhart. Head of Government and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Principality of Liechtenstein, was escorted to the rostrum.

I have great pleasure in welcoming the Head of Government and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Principality of Liechtenstein, Mr. Hans Brunhart, and inviting him to address the General Assembly.

Permit me to extend to you, Mr. President, our heartfelt congratulations on your election, which demonstrates Member States' conviction that you have the ability to conduct the work of this session of the General Assembly with diplomatic skill and efficiency. I assure you of the support of the delegation of Liechtenstein. I should like to also express to your predecessor. Ambassador Samir Shihabi, our recognition of his outstanding conduct of the business of the General Assembly at its forty-sixth session. Furthermore, I wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to you, Mr. Secretary-General, for your efforts better to eguip the United Nations to meet the new challenges it faces as a result of the far-reaching changes taking place in the world. We hope that the Organization, under your leadership and in close cooperation and agreement with Member States and other United Nations organs and bodies, will be able to continue to perform its important duties effectively. It is my hope that close cooperation will develop between you and my country. Two years ago Liechtenstein was accepted as the one hundred and fifty-ninth member of the United Nations. This occasion was for my country the culmination of its efforts to become an equal partner in the international community of States and to share responsibility for overcoming the global and regional problems we face today. The two years of our membership have been marked by far-reaching political changes. As one of the conseguences of these changes, 20 new Members have been admitted to the United Nations since 1990. Accordingly, Liechtenstein would like particularly to welcome those countries that have become Members of the United Nations this year: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Croatia, the Republic of Moldova, San Marino, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Since its entry Liechtenstein has sought to be an active member of the United Nations, although as a small country our possibilities are very limited. We are thankful for the understanding Member States have shown for our special situation. All States, whether small or large, whether powerful or powerless, need the United Nations. Small States, however, have special grounds for belonging to the world Organization. One of these is the fact that the United Nations is based on a requirement of universal respect for the law of nations; sovereignty, especially that of a small State, can be secured, ensured and guaranteed only when all States, especially the large and powerful, respect international law. We have confidence in the United Nations, but at the same time we are aware that the Organization cannot resolve all conflicts. It can, however, establish standards of conduct for the civilized behaviour of nations towards one another. For a short time after the end of the cold war we believed that we were going through a phase of almost exclusively positive changes and upheavals. Democratic Governments were replacing authoritarian regimes, and millions of people were attaining the freedom they had long been denied. But that time was short-lived. Today the international community of States finds itself facing no fewer problems than before. Instead of a diminution, there has been a deepening of the North-South conflict; regional conflicts driven by ethnic, religious, social and cultural differences are coming to a head; and environmental damage is threatening us and future generations. Simultaneously, however, expectations have risen and prospects improved of the United Nations being able to play more fully the role that was envisaged for it when it was established. Liberation from the burden of the big-Power confrontation has indeed made our peoples and nations clearly aware of the world's mutual interdependence, but we are still not of one mind regarding the order in which to list the problems to which the United Nations should devote its priority attention. Quite obviously, the structures of an organization founded 47 years ago need to be adapted to the realities and new demands of these greatly changed times. We therefore welcome the Secretary-General's report, "An Agenda for Peace" (A/47/277), and see it as providing a useful basis for the efforts to improve the capacity of the United Nations to establish and maintain peace in the world. We believe that the proposals regarding preventive diplomacy in particular, contained in section III of the report, need to be looked at very closely with a view to creating means of preventing disputes or limiting their escalation. Internal conflicts have become a special challenge to the community of States. Ethnic, social or religious disagreements often give rise to regional instability. We are aware of the fact that a number of the new States Members of the United Nations, in particular, are in an extremely difficult economic and political situation. Liechtenstein would like in this connection to express particularly its sympathy with the victims of the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The war unleashed by the aggression of Serbia and Montenegro is causing great human suffering in that country. We are following with deep concern the continuing reports of massive and systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, for which all parties to the conflict are responsible. The killing of innocent human beings and the destruction of an irreplaceable cultural heritage must stop, and all parties must immediately make efforts to bring about a peaceful solution to their difficult problems. We support the declaration of principles issued on the occasion of the London Conference, held on 26 and 27 August 1992, and the framework established by the Conference participants within which a comprehensive political solution to the crisis is to be sought. We express our hope that the political will demonstrated in London will be transformed into specific actions and that the follow-up negotiations taking place in Geneva will soon yield positive results. It is within that framework that I should like to refer to the initiative that the Head of State of the Principality of Liechtenstein, His Serene Highness Prince Hans-Adam II, introduced in his address to the forty-sixth session of the General Assembly. On that occasion His Serene Highness referred to the need to find ways of promoting peaceful solutions to the many conflicts which have their roots in the tensions which exist between communities within States. His Serene Highness considered that such solutions should be sought within the framework of the principle of self-determination. Liechtenstein is aware of the consideration already given within the United Nations and indeed within other bodies - to the principle of self- determination. We acknowledge the great international effort devoted to this question in the past. The right to self-determination as a principle is now universally accepted. I would recall not only that self-determination is one of the foundations of the Charter but also that most States represented in the Assembly are already under certain specific legal obligations in this area by virture of Article 1 of each of the great human rights Covenants of 1966. There it is formally and with legally binding effect acknowledged that: "All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development." Despite all this, and with some notable exceptions, the practical and peaceful application of that principle has often been lacking. Tensions between distinctive communities within States, or between such communities and the State itself, persist in many parts of the world. Regrettably, they have in a number of ins.tances led to outbreaks of serious violence. Apart from the human suffering which ressults, such tensions and violence often affect neighbouring States, and may have a more widespread impact on the maintenance of international peace generally. Much can be done to try to limit the suffering once the violence has started; but how much better it would be to go to the root of the problem which is often to be found in the frustrations of distinctive comunities when they are denied the legitimate expression of their communal identities and aspirations. I am glad to say that His Serene Highness's statement last year attracted the interest of a number of delegations. During the past year we have undertaken extensive consultations, and we have benefitted greatly from constructive suggestions which delegations have been kind enough to make. We are most grateful to all those Governments for the interest they have shown. We have also sought, and taken into account, some independent expert views. It is against this background that Liechtenstein believes that the international community, through this Assembly, should take steps to make the right of self-determination more effective, and by doing so contribute to the avoidance of some future conflicts. It is our conviction that the time has now come for the international community, through the United Nations, to offer a realistic way forward, by establishing a practical framework through which communities can give expression to their distinctive gualities. Such a practical framework would need to satisfy four main reguirements: First, there should be flexible and graduated forms of self-determination involving different levels of autonomy, taking account of the differing needs of differing communities and the States of which they form part; a subdivided community which allows its various parts to pursue the common goal in their own way can on occasion be a very good expression of the principle of self-determination; Secondly, communities invoking the principle of self-determination should renounce resort to violence and commit themselves to pursuing their aims through peaceful means only; Thirdly, assistance in the effective realization of the principle of self-determination should be available through independent procedures; and Fourthly, a proper balance must be maintained between self-determination and the territorial integrity of States. Subject always to those requirements being met, we believe that the international community should recognize that self-determination is an inherent attribute of all communities which possess a distinctive social and territorial identity. This involves the free choice by each community of its political, social, economic and cultural destiny in accordance with the best interests of its members. Self-determination, it must be stressed, is not necessarily or even primarily a matter of moving towards independent statehood. Indiscriminate independence would lead to the fragmentation of the international community and would insufficiently respect the territorial integrity of States. In reality, however, full independence is, if only for purely practical reasons, the least likely outcome in most cases. Respect for diversity can be adeguately reflected in other ways. Self-determination can take various forms, as may be best suited to each community's and each State's particular circumstances. It is important to retain the essential flexibility of the concept. But in all cases where there exists a community with a sufficient degree of distinctive identity, it seems right that a certain basic level of autonomy should be acknowledged. I am referring to such very elementary matters as non-discrimination against the community or its members, their freedom to practice and enjoy their distinctive community characteristics, and their participation in appropriate ways in public affairs, particularly in matters directly affecting the community's interests. A commitment to acknowledge such a modest degree of autonomy for all communities that merit it should not, we believe, cause serious problems for any Member of the United Nations. More advanced levels of autonomy will be appropriate for communities whose particular circumstances demonstrate their fitness to enjoy them. But we do not think it would be realistic for the United Nations to seek to lay down detailed mandatory requirements for the self-determination of communities with a vast range of distinctive characteristics, settled within States whose own histories are so diverse. Anything beyond the sort of basic level of autonomy to which I have referred is probably best left to be developed on an optional basis and case by case the circumstances being so diverse that each is best left to be treated on its own merits. Nevertheless, there would, in our view, be some advantage in the United Nations indicating the kinds of further elements which might find a place in the more advanced levels of autonomy. These further elements of autonomy would progressively add to the degree to which the community conducts its own affairs but would only be available to a community with satisfactory experience and even then, only if the State concerned is ready to accept the community's more advanced level of autonomy. In this complex area we cannot assume that any general principle or rocedures which might be agreed internationally will be applied without difficulty in particular cases. We should therefore also envisage that some procedures be available to assist if any difficulties arise in the application of the principle of self-determination and to assist with the peaceful resolution of any differences there might be. A number of delegations with which we have discussed our ideas in general terms suggested that it would be advantageous for the matter which, as well as being of great political importance, is also of considerable technical complexity - to be the subject of some further examination by a group of experts so as to facilitate the progress which may eventually be made in this Assembly. We have accordingly concluded that the most appropriate course will be for the Government of Liechtenstein to invite each Government represented in the Assembly and that includes those here as observers to nominate an independent expert to attend an informal meeting of experts in Liechtenstein next March. We hope that the experts attending that meeting will be able to assist us in further developing the ideas advanced initially by His Serene Highness at the forty-sixth session of the Assembly. We envisage that the experts nominated to attend will do so in their personal capacities, since we believe that by adopting procedures which avoid committing Governments we are more likely to have a constructive and expert discussion. Invitations to nominate experts to attend the meeting will be issued during the course of the present session. In the light of the views expressed at the meeting of experts, the Government of Liechtenstein will consider how best to return to the Assembly, perhaps at its next session in 1993, with proposals for carrying further the initiative introduced last year by His Serene Highness. As the international community makes progress, however haltingly, towards preventing the outbreak of violent conflicts between States, it becomes all the more important that together we seek ways of avoiding the no less inhuman consequences of civil wars between communities within a State. In informing the Assembly of the lines along which our thinking on this important and sensitive matter is developing, I hope that I may have demonstrated the depth of our concern that some way should be found of controlling one major source of much violence and human suffering in today's world. May I express my hope that the new spirit of cooperation in the United Nations will help enable us to discharge the responsibility entrusted to us and to find, in consensus, solutions to the manifold problems that we face. My delegation is ready to make its contribution in order to achieve, in efficient cooperation with other delegations, the objectives of the United Nations.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the Head of Government and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Principality of Liechtenstein for the statement he has just made. Mr. Hans Brunhart. Head of Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein, was escorted from the rostrum. Mr. BOUNKOULOU (Congo) (interpretation from French): It is with a full awareness of the significant turning point reached by the world and the United Nations that the delegation of the Republic of Congo is approaching the work of this forty-seventh session of the General Assembly over which Mr. Ganev has the honour and privilege of presiding. On my own and my delegation's behalf, I should like to congratulate him on his unanimous election to the presidency. The General Assembly's choice reflects the high esteem and prestige which his country, Bulgaria, enjoys on the international scene. It is equally a tribute to his experience and personal qualities. I also wish once again to offer our profound gratitude to his predecessor. Ambassador Samir Shihabi of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who skilfully guided the forty-sixth session. My delegation would like to ensure Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, of its full cooperation. Lastly, I wish to extend a warm welcome to the new Members, whose admission further strengthens the universality of the United Nations. I am pleased to say that the delegation of the Republic of the Congo will be happy to work with them during the forty-seventh session and in the future. The cold war has run its course. Upon the ruins of more than 40 years of extreme tension. States and the United Nations system are striving to organize on this planet a new, more democratic and more humane order. Under the impetus of world developments, which have galvanized the spirit of reform everywhere, the United Nations as an institution is undergoing a process of change. It has accordingly undertaken major initiatives in the realm of cooperation for development and in the realm of peace-keeping operations and the restoration of peace. What new ideas are emerging? What are their chances of success? What risks are posed to human rights and democracy by the challenges of growing poverty, third-world debt, the AIDS pandemic, drugs, and ethnic and religious hatreds, and by ecological disasters or those that, as we approach the end of the century, result from the world population explosion? As has been stated, the meeting held by the Security Council on 31 January 1992 was the first it had ever held at the level of Heads of State or Government. That summit symbolized the end of an era of discord that had long paralysed the United Nations. It is understandable that the international Organization should henceforth seek to define itself. It wishes to strengthen its potential in various areas, while at the same time increasing its efficacy in complying with the provisions of the Charter. Africa and the developing countries are active partners in reform. For is that not part of a new universalism which has become more urgent and whose aim remains the satisfaction of fundamental needs? Let us concern ourselves as much with the flowering of dignity and human rights as with the economic and social well-being of all peoples. For Africa in particular, external assistance stands as a basic princple. But it is also to a large extent the starting point of Africa's development. That is why Africa will remain vigilant about subtle proposals that tend to marginalize its relations with the world system. Thus, in this new interplay of interests aimed at introducing a new culture into the United Nations, Africa has everything to gain by preserving, for instance, the decisive role the United Nations plays, under the relevant provisions of the Charter, in the realm of cooperation for economic and social development. In all times, the Governments that we have the honour to represent have assumed to right to lead people by assuming the duty to address forcefully the needs of the immediate present, the hypothetical, the near future, and the long-term. The first ambition remains to work for better societies that offer the citizen, both as an individual and as part of the whole, less alienation and less constraint with more knowledge and more freedom. It is noteworthy that in the constant struggle for man and society, the community of nations assembled within the United Nations has accompanied national efforts with appropriate assistance. The General Assembly, ennobled by its solemn nature, captures the resounding echo of public opinion from around the world. In this respect, it is a major source of hope. The demands which the Organization must now meet are unprecedented in their nature. The Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in his report on the work of the Organization, has written that: "The turning-point in the scale and scope of United Nations activities can be discerned after the year 1987. For the first time in many years, agreement on a wide range of issues became possible, effectively marking an end to the cold war." (A/47/1, para. 14) Thus, today more than ever, the debate in the General Assembly is rich with a variety of issues that illustrate the expanding role of the Organization. In actual fact, what is involved are generally new, modern challenges that the States Members of the Organization will have to confront. This state of affairs, disturbing in itself, is mitigated by the dispelling of some problems. Furthermore, a number of diverse national experiences, full of opportunity and hope, have developed in recent years and acquired real significance for freedom and restored democracy in a number of countries. (Mr. Bounkoulou, Congo) I once again welcome the fact that the United Nations is contributing actively to the democratization efforts of these nations, which are referred to in the report on the work of Organization that I have already mentioned. I should like to address the specific case of the institutions in my country, the Congo. In specific terms, the Republic of the Congo is moving towards an enlarged and more participatory democracy, the blossoming of the intellectual and psychological potential of the Congolese people, and the growth of national solidarity. Decentralization, the keystone of the new policy of Professor Pascal Lissouba, the first democratically elected President of the Republic, will grant administrative powers to regions in the areas of management and economic development. There are two dimensions involved in this: the rehabilitation or construction of administrative installations, and the promotion of initiative and innovation in the area of development and the rural environment. The aim is to improve living conditions for the poorest sectors of the population by giving them the means to gain access to decent housing, with the emphasis on local building materials, water supply and sanitation, family health, the education of infants, and income-generating activities. In the course of this year, 1992, through the exercise of universal sufferage, the Congolese people, during successive free and fair elections performed their duties as active citizens under the supervision of international observers, to whom my Government expresses its profound gratitude for the very beneficial assistance they provided our country. The happy outcome of these elections today heralds a new era, that of democracy, to which our people is henceforth committed. Congolese public opinion, revitalized by a reborn national press, has effectively contributed to averting political violence. In short, the Congo is now engaged in meaningful structural reform, starting at the institutional level. The Congo's new Constitution, adopted by referendum on 15 March 1992, during the transitional period following the national conference, increases freedoms in all areas. Almost 45 articles make up chapter II of the Constitution on rights and fundamental freedoms. Our Constitution also provides for balanced public powers and seeks to establish strengthened solidarity and equity. The establishment of democracy at the local level not without its risks set the first conclusive test for the Congolese people. Local councils and mayors were elected by universal sufferage. Despite some inevitable but minor hitches, the overall system functioned in a satisfactory manner. It is important to note the people's commitment to the new political, economic, social, and cultural foundations upon which, after 30 years of error and disarray, the new political legitimacy of our country now rests. A bicameral parliament has been elected, with predominance given to the first chamber, the National Assembly, to which the government is accountable. Its functioning reflects the meticulous Congolese electoral process. This process culminated with the presidential election held on 2 and 16 August 1992. This final phase readily highlighted to public opinion, long unfamiliar with such things, the complex interplay of the many political parties and their strategic alliances. The presidential election was carried out in two ballots. It was hotly contested. The Congolese electors voted without constraint in secret ballot. Professor Pascal Lissouba was elected President of the Republic of the Congo. message of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Professor Pascal Lissouba. There are many reasons for hope nowadays. For our country, the message proclaims, there is an irresistable democratic urge that has freed energies and galvanzied enthusiasm. Everything has once more become possible. This historic new beginning implies a break with a development fundamentally based on such factors external to our civil society as international assistance, negotiated or imposed improvement in the terms of trade, foreign investment, and the preponderant intervention of the State. The new idea is that economic development and social progress should be based principally on the sense of initiative, the creativity of individuals and the civil society, and on their capacity to act, innovate, and better manage the human resources and riches of the Congo. As will have been noted, Congo's ambitions are bold. Mindful of the magnitude of the task before us, the President of the Republic of Congo has stated: "The concept of democracy nowadays may appear to be a gift. It is a culture, and any culture is a blending. Thus we, by virtue of our own culture, which involves a methodical and deliberate search for consensus, must mitigate the inhumane or hard-to-accept aspects of a democracy fashioned in other climes."

Let me begin by congratulating the President upon his election to the presidency of ihe forty-seventh session of the General Assembly. (Mr. Abdullah. Malaysia) I wish to pay a tribute to the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali. His able and efficient leadership of the United Nations since he took office only nine months ago has impressed us all and I wish to assure him of Penmark's full support of his continuing efforts to reform and streamline the Organization. During the past year the world Organization has become more nearly universal than ever. What in 1945 started out as an organization of 51 Member States has now become an organization consisting of 179 Members. This year 13 new States have joined the United Nations. All the new States of the former Soviet Union, as well as Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and San Marino, have now joined the Organization. Let me take this opportunity to welcome all the new Member States and to express my hope for future fruitful cooperation in the spirit of the United Nations. The very deplorable developments in the former Yugoslavia have demonstrated how fragile the situation is in many parts of the world in the post-cold-war era and have led to the largest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War. The international community has reacted with great responsibility to the intensified crisis in the former Yugoslavia and the overwhelming humanitarian needs it has caused. We have made very large resources available for monitoring, mediation and peace-keeping operations, as well as for humanitarian assistance. I welcome the enlarged role of the United Nations in the peace efforts in the area as well as the central role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the provision of relief, where coordination remains of paramount significance in ensuring that the relief work is carried out with maximum speed and efficiency. (Mr. Ellemann-Jensen. Denmark) Denmark has worked closely with the High Commissioner in providing very substantial humanitarian assistance, both financially and otherwise. Lately we have accepted a more direct involvement in the provision of accommodation and shelter for refugees and displaced persons. We intend to continue our efforts. The Yugoslav crisis is a crisis in Europe, and Europe is willing and able to take its part of the international responsibility, but the United Nations as the international, global actor has its important role to play as well. The international Conference in London on the former Yugoslavia assembled all the main actors involved in the crisis and war in the region. The results were encouraging. The framework for the absolutely necessary political dialogue and for the negotiations was established, including the structure and the principles upon which any peaceful solution must be based. Developments in the first month after the London conference have shown that the conference was able not only to produce very good documents but also to establish the follow-up mechanism enabling us to turn words into deeds. Denmark wholeheartedly supports the efforts in Geneva under the co-chairmanship of Mr. Cyrus Vance and Lord Owen. Under the impact of all the combined international efforts - the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR), the European Community Monitoring Mission (ECMM), the Geneva talks we must not forget that the main responsibility for bringing an end to the cruelties and violence lies with the conflicting parties. All the peoples, groups and minorities and their leaders must realize that the only way their communities can flourish is through a negotiated, commonly accepted political settlement of their disputes. (Mr. Ellemann-Jensen. Denmark) Diverging interests can coexist peacefully only through compromise. The basic principles for a political solution will not change: the inviolability of the borders which can be changed only by mutual, peaceful agreement; the human rights and the rights of minorities must be respected; the sanctions against Serbia-Montenegro will be upheld until the acts of aggression have stopped; the so-called "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" is not the sole successor to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; humanitarian help to all in need shall be possible; persons who have committed crimes against international humanitarian law shall be prosecuted individually, if possible by an international court under the United Nations. (Mr. Ellemann-Jensen. Denmarlr) The situation in the former Yugoslavia is still grave, but I think we have created the foundations for a possible improvement and eventual settlement. There will be difficulties and backlashes ahead. As Prime Minister Major said at the London Conference, it will be a long haul. But nobody should doubt that Denmark, nationally as well as in its capacity as the next holder of the Presidency of the European Community, will devote all its strength to the international efforts aimed at obtaining a political, peaceful settlement in the former Yugoslavia. After a period of impressive progress, the reform process in South Africa came to an unfortunate standstill in the middle of this year because of new, tragic outbreaks of violence. The high level of violence remains one of the major obstacles to a resumption of negotiations.