A/48/PV.19 General Assembly

I should like to draw the General Assembly’s attention to document A/48/414/Add.5. In a letter contained in that document, the Secretary-General informs me that, since the issuance of his communications dated 21, 24, 27 and 29 September and 4 October 1993, the Gambia has made the necessary payment to reduce its arrears below the amount specified in Article 19 of the Charter. May I take it that the General Assembly duly takes note of this information? ADDRESS BY MAJOR-GENERAL JUVENAL HABYARIMANA, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA

The Assembly will first hear an address by the President of the Republic of Rwanda. This record is subject to correction. Corrections should be sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned within one week of the date of publication to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Section, Room C-178, and incorporated in a copy of the record. NEW YORK

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations the President of the Republic of Rwanda, His Excellency Major-General Juvénal Habyarimana, and to invite him to address the Assembly. President HABYARIMANA (interpretation from French): I am experiencing a feeling of signal honour and genuine pleasure, and also at the same time a deep feeling as I now, on behalf of my country, Rwanda, speak before this prestigious General Assembly of the United Nations, which each year considers the fate of our world. Above all, I should like to associate myself with the eminent speakers who have spoken before me here, to extend to you, Sir, on behalf of the delegation of which I am the head, our warmest congratulations on your election to the presidency of the United Nations General Assembly at its forty-eighth session. We are assured that your personal qualities and your extensive experience in international issues will assist you in discharging this difficult responsibility. Your personal qualities and your experience are the best guarantee of the success of the work of the present session. We also wish to congratulate all the other members of the General Committee, who, we are sure, will spare no effort in assisting you in successfully discharging the difficult task entrusted to you. The delegation of the Republic of Rwanda will spare no effort to participate actively and effectively to ensure a successful conclusion of the debate on the items on the agenda of this session. Distr. GENERAL A/48/PV.19 25 October 1993 ENGLISH We should also like to take advantage of this happy opportunity to warmly welcome the presence here with us of new Member States, the admission of which is an important stage towards achieving the universality of the Organization. The forty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly is opening at a time when the world presents to us a rather gloomy picture. Here and there are several scattered islets of peace and prosperity but they are few indeed. Moreover, in various corners of the world armed conflicts and political tensions are ready to explode into open crisis and economic and social ruin. In many countries we find poverty and upheavals in the quest for more balanced societies, and everywhere there is anguish in the face of so many challenges which confront the conscience of man and which spawn fear for the future. Fortunately, good will is being demonstrated and mobilized at the level of States, non-governmental organizations, and regional and international organizations - in the forefront of which is the United Nations - to arouse the universal conscience, extinguish the fires, accompany political change, allay misery and renew hope and the enjoyment of life for those for whom the horizon seems closed and gloomy. It is an appropriate time and place to pay a sincere tribute to the world Organization and to its tireless Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for all the actions undertaken and carried out with skill and designed to restore peace in regions and countries devastated by war, to prevent other conflicts, and to assist disadvantaged peoples or those sorely tried by disasters of all types. To be sure, the means are limited, but is not this Organization the last hope of people? And success nurtures that hope. Thus we welcome enthusiastically the end of the civil war in Cambodia and the re-establishment of State institutions in that country. Rwanda welcomes the progress that has been made towards a settlement of the conflict in Mozambique and is following particularly closely the political developments in South Africa. While the system of apartheid in the latter has Rwanda is also most gratified at the very positive course of the Middle East peace negotiations, which, thanks to mutual recognition between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and to the signing, in Washington on 13 September 1993, of an agreement on Palestinian autonomy in Gaza and Jericho, have just gone through a very important stage. We hope that this historic agreement, which lays the bases for reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians, will open the way to a lasting solution to all the issues connected with the problem of the Middle East and will lead ultimately to peace and calm in that part of the world. To that end, we call on the international community to redouble its efforts to secure positive results for the attempts now being made to settle the conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liberia, Angola, Somalia and all other countries where peoples are being battered, divided and plunged into misery by individual or tribal egoism and ambition or are having their sovereignty threatened by the inordinate greed of other States. At the level of international economic relations, it is depressing to note that, to this day, three quarters of mankind live on the sidelines of economic and social progress, in so far as numerous structural imbalances continue to hamper the efforts of the countries of the South to achieve self-development and international cooperation. Indeed, despite the concerted efforts at integration, despite the internal adjustments still undertaken at enormous sacrifice, and despite the expressions of good will for international partnership, foreign debt continues to grow, and the gap between the economies of the North and those of the South continues to widen. The delegation of Rwanda is convinced that if the lot of mankind is to be improved, the international community must undertake measures that can promote the emergence of a new, more balanced and more equitable world economic order. In this regard, only a common political will on the part of all the Members of this Organization can help to correct the structural imbalances in the global economy and to open the way to a new partnership in which interdependence means, first and foremost, a shared destiny for mankind, in which international cooperation is even more synonymous with success that benefits all the partners - the seal of fraternity and the promise of genuine solidarity. In addition, the scope of international cooperation can be widened, and its impact increased, only through genuine integration of action and of programmes in the context of a national strategy and with a global vision of authentic self- development. Rwanda has always attached special importance to international cooperation, to which it owes so much of its progress, its development and its achievements. With regard to the political situation in Rwanda, my country, as Members know, is emerging from a pointless and undeserved war, which was imposed on it three years ago, on 1 October 1990. Allow me, before sketching out the situation into which this war has plunged the population of Rwanda and the country’s economy, to emphasize once again the role of the international community in resolving crises and conflicts, for the ending of the war in my country is the result of a miracle of international solidarity. There is no doubt that this required the good will of the two parties to the conflict. Wisdom prevailed over ambition, and hatred yielded to the nation’s need to survive. But the will of the two parties to pool their efforts was strongly supported by countries neighbouring Rwanda, among which the two parties chose, by common agreement, the Republic of Zaire as Mediator and the United Republic of Tanzania as Facilitator. The two warring parties benefited also from the skilled help of President Abdou Diouf of Senegal, who was at that time Chairman of the Organization of African Unity, and of certain friendly countries - France, Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States of America. In addition, they received most valuable assistance from the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations. All these countries and international organizations sent representatives to Arusha, Tanzania, to take part in the peace I take this opportunity to express once again to all these countries and organizations the sincere gratitude of the Government and people of Rwanda for their highly valuable contribution to the positive outcome of the negotiations, which were very trying to all who were involved and which on numerous occasions would have been on the verge of collapse had it not been for the tenacity and determination of the two parties and the wise and firm advice of all friends present. This senseless war that befell Rwanda is now subsiding, thanks to the peace agreement that was signed in Arusha on 4 August 1993. It was bloody and devastating. We mourn tens of thousands of victims. The war resulted in considerable destruction of infrastructure, equipment and socio-economic and administrative systems, and it left in a state of dire poverty more than 900,000 displaced persons, whose property went up in smoke. That war has left us with orphans and invalids of all ages, widows, helpless old people and hundreds of thousands of economic victims. In the regions affected by the war, misery and desolation hold sway. Education has been severely jeopardized and the psychological consequences for the most vulnerable age groups are doubtless incalculable. This war has destroyed the fragile equilibrium of the country’s food supply and has exacerbated the famine which has struck the entire country, because it broke out in the country’s most fertile regions, which have not been cultivated for three years now. The representatives of international bodies and non-governmental organizations who visited the camps of displaced persons cannot forget the desolate sight of the make-shift shelters where hundreds of thousands of human beings, crammed together in highly unsanitary conditions, continue to lead lives that are close to intolerable. Those representatives cannot forget the long lines of hungry people on the roads, seeking the assistance sent them by the international community, which with difficulty was able to deliver it to them for their survival. And what can we say of the economy in general? Already badly shaken, it is today in even worse condition, following the enormous expenditures resulting from the war and the destruction it caused. Thus, after the signing of the Arusha Peace Agreement, the time has come for the long- term, enormous work of national reconstruction in the newly regained peace and calm, without forgetting the other, no On the economic level, Rwanda has been experiencing a crisis since the 1980s, which has had negative repercussions on the implementation of the budget and has been exacerbated not only by the war but also by the unpredictable nature of external shocks, in particular the collapse of the international price of coffee, our primary export. As it was no longer possible to control the growth of public expenditures and of the fundamental imbalance in the balance of trade, in combination with a production system whose structure is very fragile, my country implemented, in November 1990, a programme of recovery having the following priorities: to relaunch the economy, to achieve internal and external financial balance, to promote domestic savings, to encourage the activity of the private sector and to improve the management of the public sector. Rwanda’s structural adjustment programme has been given great technical and financial support by all the donors, headed by the Bretton Woods institutions. Unfortunately, the launching of this programme, which the Government could apparently have carried out without too many sudden detours, coincided with the attack of October 1990. From this rostrum, I would like most solemnly to thank the international community for the support it has accorded Rwanda both with assistance in the balance of payments and with development projects. We are even more grateful for the priority the international community has given to assistance for those displaced by the war, in answer to the consolidated appeal made by the Department of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations, whose dedication is inestimable. Following the war and the new deterioration of the terms of trade which affected the economy of Rwanda, the very backbone of our structural adjustment programme is threatened. I am speaking here of the liberalization of external and internal trade which requires a comfortable currency reserve situation. Therefore, in accordance with the contents of the Peace Agreement, the priorities of the expanded transitional Government are to pursue efforts at economic recovery and to work on four programmes for specifically post-war economic development: emergency assistance to those displaced by the war in order to help them return to their property, assistance in the reintegration of Rwandese refugees, assistance in reconstruction and assistance in the social and economic reintegration of demobilized military personnel. For the repatriation of Rwandese refugees in accordance with the Dar-es-Salaam Declaration of 19 February 1991, a donors’ meeting will be organized at the initiative of the Government, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). With the war, we saw all types of destruction, particularly the damaging and/or destruction of several thousands of hectares of forest which will even further aggravate the wood shortage. With the end of the war, the country will have to dispose of the funds to demobilize more than 31,000 military personnel. We will also have to locate throughout the country paying jobs and training which can facilitate their social and economic reintegration. Within the framework of the preparation for the programmes of reconstruction and socio-economic reintegration of demobilized military personnel, I have personally sent a request to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, on 2 January 1993, and an inter-agency mission of the United Nations systems and of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is at present backing the Government of Rwanda in the preparation of the document to be submitted to the donors at a round table for humanitarian emergency assistance. By signing the Peace Agreement the Government of Rwanda firmly committed itself to strengthening the basis of a State of law in which public freedoms, together with political rights, justice and equality, will be guaranteed. In that Agreement the two parties have agreed that an independent National Commission for Human Rights will be established entrusted with dealing with violations of human rights perpetrated by any person on Rwandan territory and, in particular, by State bodies and by persons under cover of the State or other organizations. Simultaneously, the Government will move to improve the functioning of the legal and penal systems, in particular by forbidding arbitrary and illegal arrests and inhumane treatment of detainees and by severely punishing the perpetrators of such acts. Since the country’s human, material and financial means are severely limited, an appeal will be made to foreign financial and technological assistance, especially in the area of the training of magistrates and officials of the Office of the Public Prosecutor and Ministry of Justice personnel. In the Peace Agreement the Government of Rwanda has also reaffirmed its determination to reach a final settlement of the refugee problem, a goal to which it had committed itself in the Dar-es-Salaam Declaration of 19 February 1991 at the regional summit meeting which examined the problem of Rwandan refugees. The task will be a difficult one for the broad-based transitional government envisaged in the agreement within the framework of the Protocols of Agreement on Power- sharing between the country’s political parties and the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF). That Government will be set up in the next few days, as soon as the prerequisite conditions have been met. The task will also be a difficult one for the people of Rwanda as a whole, who will be the ultimate authors and beneficiaries of the hoped-for progress and well-being. Nevertheless, despite the will and determination of the Rwandan people and their Government, we must acknowledge the utter insufficiency of the domestic means available, given the titanic labour to be accomplished. We The first contribution we expect from the international community is the deployment, as rapidly as possible, of an international neutral force, as provided in the Arusha Agreement. On behalf of the people of Rwanda, I should like to express to the United Nations as a whole, and to the members of the Security Council in particular, our gratitude for the historic decision the Organization took yesterday in adopting the resolution establishing the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), so long awaited for the implementation of the Arusha Peace Agreement. The Agreement assigns to that force the task of facilitating the implementation of the Peace Agreement, specifically by supervising implementation of the Protocol on the Integration of the Armed Forces of the Two Parties and by providing various kinds of assistance to the authorities and competent bodies. The Agreement also assigns to UNAMIR security tasks, including, inter alia, monitoring the overall security situation in the country and investigating and reporting on activities carried out by the competent authorities and bodies in the maintenance of public order; assisting in ensuring the security of the civilian population; assisting with mine-clearance operations; assisting in the identification of arms stockpiles and the neutralization of armed bands throughout the country, and monitoring the respect by both sides of the comprehensive cease-fire and cessation of hostilities, as provided in the Peace Agreement. Lastly, the Arusha Peace Agreement entrusts the neutral international force with the tasks of supervising the training process of the national armed forces, and here I would mention only the supervision of the disengagement of forces, supervision of the demobilization of all the military forces and the Gendarmerie, and participation in the training programme for members of the New National Army and National Gendarmerie. This is some indication of how necessary and urgent the establishment of the neutral international force is in order to allow for the creation of the broad-based transitional government and the reintegration of persons displaced by the war, the repatriation of refugees and, in a Another extremely vital contribution we expect from the international community, and more specifically from the United Nations system and, on a bilateral level, from the friendly countries and various non-governmental organizations, will be that of financing the priority programmes to which I referred a few moments ago. Today, more than ever, Rwanda needs the attention, concern and good will of the international community. It is relying on that community’s generosity to re-establish itself and to recover from the horrors of war. May that hope be realized soon. With the support of the international community the people of Rwanda hope to pass smoothly through a transition period that, notwithstanding the guidelines of the Peace Agreement, could still turn out to be arduous. The people of Rwanda, however, are relying on the patriotism and sense of responsibility that their political authorities and the leaders of the parties in the government and the Transitional Assembly must demonstrate to consolidate the democratic gains and lay down, once and for all, the foundations of peace and national harmony. Once the demons of division have been exorcised, the people of Rwanda will surely build a new nation and experience once again uninterrupted progress. At this session of the General Assembly elections will be held for a number of seats on the Security Council. Rwanda has officially put forward its candidacy to become a non-permanent member of that body entrusted with responsibility for international peace and security. Its candidacy was endorsed at the last Summit Meeting of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) held at Cairo at the end of June this year. As the Head of State, I ask for the Assembly’s trust in my country, Rwanda, which has never yet had a seat on the Security Council. As a State concerned to carry out its responsibilities, including those on the international level, Rwanda believes that it can, today more than yesterday, make its modest contribution to the maintenance of peace in the world and to the restoration of peace in troubled regions and countries. Emerging as it now is from a war that has tried it sorely, Rwanda is better aware of the price of peace, the peace it has now regained thanks in particular to the efforts of the international community. An ancient country that was under United Nations trusteeship throughout the period prior to its accession to national independence, my country, Rwanda, which has just emerged from the throes of an unmentionable war and now yearns to rebuild, relying on the lessons of the past, has every reason to feel that it has matured, and it assures you of its unswerving determination to work for the advent of peace in the world and understanding among nations. On its behalf, I repeat to the United Nations, our Organization, our sincerest wishes that it may succeed and flourish for the happiness of all mankind.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Rwanda for the statement he has just made.

The General Assembly’s annual convening in New York is a world event which, each year, expresses the hope of nations and peoples to find common ground, through dialogue and joint effort, in order to live together their shared destiny. In a world that is becoming daily more diverse and in which peoples are witness to so many contradictions, is it not here and now, in close friendship and fraternal dialogue, that humanity, with its boundless intellectual and ethical potential, can embark on a process of self-examination and be reconciled with the universal conscience, which is also the foundation of our human calling to live together and in harmony? It is in that belief that the delegation of Senegal - which participated in your election, Mr. President, aware of your brilliant political record and the outstanding role your country plays on the international scene - extends to you through me the warm congratulations of my country, our people and its leaders. We have no doubt about your mastery of international practice, for we know that your vast experience as a statesman will make it possible for you to conduct, with effectiveness, intelligence and skill the work of this session of the General Assembly. My best wishes are thus with you in your election and with the task you have been called upon to accomplish, until September 1994, from this historic and lofty rostrum. Your predecessor, Mr. Stoyan Ganev, former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, guided the proceedings of the forty-seventh session of our General Assembly with a competence and effectiveness that deserve our appreciation and gratitude. We wish heartily to congratulate him. I should like to pay a special tribute to our Secretary- General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for the enormous Finally, I should like to extend my country’s congratulations to all the new States Members of our Organization - the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Principality of Monaco, the Principality of Andorra and Eritrea. I welcome all of them to the United Nations family. Some 15 years ago, in September 1978, I had the honour for the first time, in my capacity as the new Minister for Foreign Affairs of Senegal, to address this Assembly. As the young head of the diplomatic corps of an African country, I referred to the many problems then confronting the international community and which revolved around two basic focal points. The first of these was the accession to political sovereignty of peoples that had not yet experienced freedom, that had been denied the full exercise of inalienable rights inherent to every human being on Earth. Those rights had been denied them by other men, other peoples, other States and other nations in the name of a system that was imposed on them and to which they had been subjected. Hope in their fellow man was their only defence. The other focal point of attention was the grave inequality of conditions for the economic, social, human and cultural development of nations. Some of these nations had near-total control of scientific developments, industrial technology, transport and communications, the cultural media and world trade networks. They even controlled the raw materials that were produced, to a great extent, in the underdeveloped regions. At the same time, while the prices of these raw materials were falling year after year at a dizzying pace, other nations were forced to buy at a high price and with reduced resources the consumer goods produced in the industrialized countries. Those nations were devoting all of their export income to these transactions and were therefore unable to invest in order to ensure their own development. Thus doomed to indebtedness, they lost a significant part of And here we are today, 15 years later, gathered together to evaluate, in an outpouring of solidarity, the distance we have covered. The fact is that the world has changed - yes, it has changed - and the transformations that characterize this end of the twentieth century are so profound that the international community at large feels the need to reform radically the way the United Nations functions, as regards, particularly, the composition of the Security Council, the financial management of the United Nations and cooperation for development, to mention just a few of the most acute needs of the present day. The world has changed. As for the African continent - to take this as a point of reference - most of the peoples formerly under foreign domination have acceded to independence. States have been created; the structures of an economy have been established; and political and economic leaders have been trained and set to work to help these peoples fulfil their destinies. But inequalities remain, even though an unprecedented global crisis today affects the economies of all countries, including even those of the most highly industrialized nations. The world economy seems to have become dislocated. It has lost its balance. New rules are established and developed day by day in the quest for new balances and new solutions. And all this is done in a situation that increasingly jeopardizes international peace. This situation could, if we are not careful, lead to impatience, to intolerance, to irritation, to a lack of dialogue - in short, to inevitable confrontation. Such a threat is unacceptable, and we must not accept it. That is why, together with my colleagues the other heads of delegations, I would like on behalf of my country - an African country, a Sahelian country, a developing country - to join other delegations in repeating to the nations gathered here that, in spite of all these problems, we do not have the right to despair. For it is obvious today that the salvation of humankind resides in solidarity and in friendship and cooperation between human beings. The fundamental and logical underpinnings of relations between peoples are, more than ever before, dialogue and agreement, expressed through firm language that translates our thoughts about the human being and about life. The industrialized countries must move in the right direction. They must understand that international solidarity can be expressed only through the mutual support that nations must give each other. In this respect, our continent, Africa, and many Asian countries should receive this support in a context of mutual respect. In other words, the proposal for an "agenda for development" initiated by the Brazilian delegation, with the support of the Group of 77, to accompany the "Agenda for Peace" submitted by our Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, deserves the international community’s attention. This important measure reflects the concerns of the Head of State of Senegal, President Abdou Diouf, who, when he addressed this Assembly last year, on this very date, launched the idea of a general agreement on solidarity as the foundation for fruitful international economic cooperation, the driving force of North-South solidarity in a renewed form. Ancient African wisdom - the ancient wisdom of our continent -teaches us that human beings, who alone can change and improve their own environment, are endowed with prodigious intellectual and moral resources, resources based on intelligence, imagination and the ability to rise to a situation in a way that makes it possible for them to fulfil their destiny. We must remain united and mutually supportive. In this connection, the delegation of Senegal solemnly commends the international community for the efforts that made possible the signing in Washington on 13 September 1993 of the agreement between the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. This historic event put an end to many decades of hostility and rancour, which cost thousands of lives and left many wounded and many alone, orphaned or widowed - all because of a lack of understanding which itself led to the destruction of the conditions for development in the Middle Eastern countries as a whole. And, what is more, there was the flare-up in oil prices which began in October 1973 and It is now up to the international community to work to consolidate this important step in the direction of a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East. In this endeavour, the United Nations family can rely, as in the past, on the constant and active support of my country to ensure that in that holy land Israelis and Palestinians can bring humankind into harmony with its profound values of tolerance, wisdom and concord. That is also the way we view the efforts made to resolve conflicts that in the past seemed beyond any human solution. I have in mind, inter alia, Cambodia, where the settlement plan designed by the United Nations led to the holding in May 1993 of general, orderly and democratic elections, as a result of which a legitimate Government was established; El Salvador, where, after several years of civil war, negotiations conducted under the auspices of the United Nations led to the signing, at the beginning of last year, of the Mexico Agreement, which initiated a period of transition towards general elections planned for the beginning of 1994; Liberia, where repeated initiatives pursued by the members of the Economic Community of West African States, supported by the United Nations and by the Organization of African Unity, made it possible to conclude, in July 1993, a new peace agreement which should, as we fervently hope, lead to a definitive settlement of that fratricidal conflict; and Mozambique and Rwanda, where similar agreements have been concluded and where the United Nations has been meaningfully involved in their practical and complete implementation. I also have in mind South Africa, where considerable progress has been made toward eliminating a system which the entire world rejected and condemned, and where peoples, united in fruitful diversity, must work together for the emergence of a human community characterized by justice and equality. My country, Senegal, will respond to the appeal made in this Hall a few days ago by President Nelson Mandela, when, from this very rostrum, he invited the international community to take a new approach consistent with the evolution of the situation in his country. All of these are excellent examples of the fact that these new times bear new hopes, even though we still have grounds for legitimate concern. In fact, despite the victories that freedom has won, when peoples are liberated peace is not always the result. The legacy of the collapsing old order is in fact often an unwieldy one, difficult to manage. On the ruins of oppression which lasted for far too long we must During this uncertain period of transition, border conflicts, problems between neighbours and religious tensions bring a return to the conflicts - civil war, genocide, rivalry among members of the same national community - of an era we thought past. Yugoslavia, Somalia, Angola: there are many examples that show that universal peace, that primary objective of the United Nations, is yet but an aspiration. The challenge, therefore, is to do all in our power so that in all parts of the world the freedoms regained will open the way to peace. My country, Senegal, which has always and in every way been committed to strengthening peace and promoting security, feels that working towards this objective means, first and foremost, affirming forcefully the rule of law in international relations. Lasting peace and security, in fact, can be guaranteed only if all nations of the world comply with the rule of law in their relations with other nations. That law must be the same for all if justice is to prevail. In this context, and in connection with the tragedy of the fraternal people of Kuwait, I welcome the happy conclusions that have been reached by the Iraq-Kuwait Boundary Demarcation Commission. The international community must continue to protect all States from any external threat to their independence and sovereignty. My thoughts turn also to Bosnia and Herzegovina, a martyred State and a State Member of the United Nations. I believe the international community has endeavoured in every stage of the evolution of the situation in the former Yugoslavia to guarantee the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the international community has committed itself to enforcing, above all, the rights of the Bosnian people, a people today undeniably the victim of true genocide. This commitment must be respected because the very credibility of our Organization is at stake. In any event, it is in order to uphold respect for that commitment that my country, whose Head of State is Chairman of the Sixth Islamic Summit Conference, intends to continue the efforts he has already begun to contribute to the promotion of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in close cooperation with all countries that cherish the same ideals of peace and justice. On these bases, my country would here like to send out a solemn appeal to all our Angolan brothers and sisters, above all those of UNITA, to understand that it is not in the interests of the Angolan people to continue the fighting. The interests of the Angolan people reside exclusively in the national effort that all must make to restore peace and harmony to Angola. We Senegalese, for our part, support all efforts to help them in this regard. There is also the situation in Somalia, where a great deal remains to be done to restore peace and organize a viable State. The United Nations there is on the right path, conducting the most ambitious and largest operation ever organized in Africa. My country would like to express its pleasure once again over the organization of this operation in a country that is today experiencing a tragic and complex situation. The infrastructure has been devastated, the State has collapsed and fratricidal internal strife has engendered massive displacements of the population. In the face of this tragic situation and in support of the Addis Ababa Agreement, which was the result on last 28 March of the Conference on National Reconciliation in Somalia, the international community, through the United Nations, gave the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM II) a mandate to continue the disarmament and to work towards national reconciliation, and at the same time, and most important, towards the strengthening of political institutions. We are pleased to note that today, in spite of the sporadic turmoil of recent months, UNOSOM II has begun to help the Somali people restore the sovereignty and integrity of the State. It is in Somalia’s and the whole I wish at this point to conclude my statement on a hopeful note. There is a clear awareness today that our planetary community is inextricably interrelated, that it rests on a natural unity based on scientific and medical discoveries and the speed of communications. But despite, and perhaps because of, this very progress there remains a certain fragility in the balance of our world. Our calling as human beings endowed with reason is therefore to remain united and to ensure together, hand in hand, the survival of humankind. It is our duty to see to it that our populations live long and in good health, to see to it that future generations derive the greatest benefit from the experiences we have had and that we are having now, so that, tomorrow, our legacy to them will be a world that has not been destroyed, a generous nature, a land united on the solid foundations of friendship, brotherhood, love and peace.

On behalf of the delegation of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, I should like to extend to Ambassador Insanally warm congratulations on his election to the presidency of this forty-eighth session of the General Assembly. We regard highly the vast efforts made and positive achievements attained by His Excellency the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in his position of lofty responsibility, towards the cause of peace, international security, development and cooperation among nations. In April of this year it was with warmth and high esteem, and moved by a desire to enhance Viet Nam’s cooperation with the United Nations, that our Government and people welcomed the Secretary-General in our country. We wish to congratulate the new Members of our United Nations family. In the year since the previous session of our General Assembly, the world has offered us a chiaroscuro picture of opportunities intermingled with challenges, of hopes mixed with anxieties. The threat of a global war of annihilation continues to recede, and we are witnessing an increasing trend towards dialogue and cooperation, in new forms and through new mechanisms, in different regions and on a world-wide scale. The progress towards restoration of peace in a number of places, especially in Cambodia and the However, humanity’s conscience and reason remain profoundly disturbed by the bloody conflicts which are inflicting death and pain on peoples and provoking regional and international instability, by potentially explosive tendencies to increase armaments in certain parts of the world, by the widening gap between the developed and the developing world and by other important and pressing problems of a global nature, such as demographic explosion, environmental degradation, dangerous diseases, transnational crime, and so on. In an unstable world whose evolution is fraught with complexities, the United Nations, while taking account of the direct responsibility of nations concerned, is facing major challenges in the discharge of its primary responsibility, namely the restoration and preservation of peace and stability. Never before has the United Nations been present and active in so many hot spots across the continents as it is today. In this regard the Secretary-General has given us a comprehensive approach to the problem in his report "An Agenda for Peace". (A/47/277) It is the earnest desire of the people of Viet Nam that peace, closely linked with national independence and sovereignty, be primary components of the new world order. We endorse the view expressed in the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization (A/48/1) that "States and their sovereignty are increasingly recognized as indispensable building-blocks of international order and problem-solving". (A/48/1, para. 13) Respect for the national independence, sovereignty and identity of each country, the strengthening of international cooperation, and the settlement of disputes through peaceful negotiations and mutual accommodation, considering peace, stability and cooperation to be the fundamental, long-term interest of each State and of the international community: all these are guiding principles in inter-State relations, principles that the United Nations and its Member States must respect. The Security Council is vested with the primary responsibility for the activities of the United Nations in respect of the restoration and safeguarding of peace. This mission, however, devolves not solely on the Security Council but on all nations. Member States should therefore Today the world is witnessing miraculous advances in science and technology. In that world, however, some hundred countries and with them billions of human beings are in danger of falling behind in the general advancement of mankind, while the wealth and property of the world are concentrated in the hands of a few developed countries. The gap in development levels is steadily widening. This, together with the accumulated external debt burden, has put developing countries at a constant disadvantage in North-South economic and trade relations. This reality carries potential challenges to security and stability, both regional and international. We should therefore fully comprehend, now more than ever, the interrelation between peace, security and development. We support the proposal for the United Nations to work out a comprehensive and effective "agenda for development", considering the implementation of such an agenda through enhanced resources as a fundamental factor for the establishment of a new, sound and equitable world order. Development programmes of the United Nations and assistance from highly developed countries to developing countries, especially poor countries, are undertakings which do not benefit one side only; rather, they are necessary for the overall stability and development of the world and the various regions as well as of each State. We are of the view that attaching political conditions to development assistance and cooperation runs counter to the principle of equality and mutual benefit of wholesome international relations. On the other hand, poor countries hope that the rapidly increasing cost of peace-keeping operations will not affect the ability of the United Nations in the field of development cooperation, and they wish to see balanced attention on the part of the United Nations to both the Agenda for Peace and that for development. One important direction of the United Nations activities that reflect the broadening attention given in this regard by An enlargement in the membership of the Security Council to enhance its representativeness, the promotion of greater transparency in the work of this body of authority within the United Nations system, the strengthening of the effectiveness of the General Assembly, the improvement of the relationship among the United Nations organs, together with perfecting the mechanisms and streamlining the machinery to ensure better efficiency and effectiveness of the United Nations activities - all these are urgent demands facing us as we are approaching the fiftieth anniversary of this Organization. Together with many other countries - member States of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, in particular - Viet Nam considers human rights to be primarily the concern and interest of each country, the pursuit of democracy and human rights in one country to be, first and essentially, the responsibility of that country and nation. At the same time, States may cooperate with one another in the promotion of democracy and human rights on the basis of respect for national independence and sovereignty, the right to self-determination, the right of a nation to choose its own path of development, in accordance with the purposes and principles set forth in the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two basic International Covenants on Human Rights. We consider using imposed standards of human rights and democracy as preconditions for inter-State cooperation to be a manifestation of inequality and lack of democracy in international relations. The Vienna Conference identified areas of agreement and at the same time revealed outstanding differences of views on human rights. We hope that, proceeding from the commitment to the common cause of human rights protection and promotion, from the recognition of both the universality and the specificity of human rights, countries will engage in a dialogue in a spirit of mutual respect with a view to achieving a unity of purpose in a diversity of ways and means of implementation in the field of human rights. The Vienna Conference also put forth recommendations Viet Nam is a country that has lived through protracted, devastating wars in which the use of millions of tons of bombs, ammunition and toxic chemicals has caused destruction of the environment, misery, loss of life and serious consequences for several generations now. It has been undertaking a process of renewal, overcoming many difficulties and challenges to achieve stability, development and integration into the international community. Located in the most dynamic region for development in the world, Viet Nam has both assets and difficulties, opportunities and challenges stemming from its specific historical circumstances, natural conditions and its geopolitical and geoeconomic position. We are now facing the acute challenge of how to overcome, soon, our state of poverty and underdevelopment, and join the mainstream of progress in the region. The only way is to tap all domestic resources, which, first and foremost, means bringing into full play the dynamism and creativity of every Vietnamese, and at the same time expanding international cooperation in friendship with all countries based on the principle of mutual respect for national independence and sovereignty, and on equality and mutual benefit. This imperative need impels us to initiate and step up efforts towards renewal in every sphere of social life; at its core, this is focused on a market economy and on perfecting the rule of law in a State that is truly of the people, by the people and for the people. The process of renewal focuses on the economic field with a view to developing a multisectoral economy operating under the market mechanism, to establishing an economic system that is open both domestically and externally, and to improving the functions and management patterns of the State. Under embargo conditions, and at a point where sources of major assistance from the countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) are no longer available, the renewal process has helped Viet Nam’s economy overcome the most difficult hurdle and end the recession, reduce and maintain control over inflation, achieve average growth in gross domestic product of 7.2 per cent Viet Nam has been attracting increasing foreign direct investment and development assistance. On behalf of the Government and the people of Viet Nam, I should like to express our sincere thanks to various agencies of the United Nations system, such as the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Population Fund, the World Food Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and others, as well as many Governments and non-governmental organizations in the world, for maintaining, resuming and increasing development and humanitarian assistance to Viet Nam. We highly appreciate the timely support extended by the Governments of France, Japan, Sweden and other countries, together with the international financial institutions, for helping Viet Nam settle arrears with the International Monetary Fund, thereby creating a breakthrough initiation of credit assistance from international monetary and financial institutions; such assistance is absolutely essential for building up socio-economic infrastructures in Viet Nam. Our appreciation goes also to the many companies, from nearly 50 countries, that have come to Viet Nam for investment and business cooperation at this initial stage of our development. In our journey towards a dynamic and sound market economy that is well-managed at the macroeconomic level, and achieving healthy, rapid and sustainable growth aimed at achieving the objectives of a prosperous nation, a strong country and a civilized and equitable society, we still face numerous difficulties, weaknesses and challenges. At this juncture, increased assistance from the United Nations, international financial institutions and non-governmental organizations, as well as cooperation and support from various countries, is extremely valuable and meaningful. On the basis of the fundamental approach of having a socio-economic development strategy up to the year 2000 in which the human person constitutes both the end and the driving force, Viet Nam is simultaneously carrying out economic reforms and a step-by-step renovation of the political system in order to promote the rights of people and citizens’ rights, both economic and political, cultural and In accordance with our nation’s tradition of humaneness, we stand for abolishing prejudice and vengeance, and for looking towards the future. Those previously in the ranks of our adversaries have all been freed and given full citizens’ rights. All Vietnamese who wish for a prosperous and strong Viet Nam, and who respect the laws, will find a place in the great unity of the nation, even if they are of different political opinions. The process of renovation and the policy of universal national unity constitute the prime mover for development in the country and at the same time bring into full play the potential of Vietnamese overseas to contribute to the construction of their former homeland. Viet Nam has concurrently deployed a foreign policy of openness, diversifying and multilateralizing its relations of friendly cooperation with all other countries, thus creating a favourable international environment for our country’s renovation and development. In that spirit, Viet Nam has actively contributed to the peaceful solution of the Cambodian question and has implemented the Paris Agreements and cooperated with the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia. We have established relations of good-neighbourliness with Cambodia in the hope that Cambodia will become a country of peace, independence, neutrality and non-alignment that entertains friendly relations with other countries. We wish to congratulate the new Government in Cambodia, and stand ready, together with that Government, to settle, jointly, any questions of mutual concern. We express the wish that the Cambodian Government and the United Nations will take effective measures to protect Vietnamese residents living peacefully in Cambodia, and to Viet Nam is sparing no effort in building up friendship and cooperation with neighbouring countries and is persevering in its policy of peaceful negotiations to find satisfactory solutions to border and territorial disputes at sea as well as on land. While working for solutions, all concerned parties should refrain from doing anything that further complicates the situation and from the use or threat of use of force to settle disputes. The fact that relations between the United States and Viet Nam have not yet been normalized 20 years after the end of the war is not normal nor is it in consonance with the trend of our time. With the desire to close the book on the past and to look to the future, Viet Nam wishes and stands ready to normalize relations with the United States on the basis of equality and mutual respect and without preconditions. This would meet the aspirations and interests of the peoples of the two countries, and would serve peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and throughout the world. Viet Nam still has tens of thousands of people missing since the war, and their remains have yet to be found; and millions of war victims need help. We are deeply sympathetic towards the sentiments of American families whose loved ones went missing in the Viet Nam war, and have cooperated, are cooperating and will continue to cooperate actively with the American Government and people on the missing-in-action question. We consider this a purely humanitarian issue. I am confident that the goodwill and conscience of the American and Vietnamese peoples, together with the immediate and long-term interests of the two countries, will soon prevail over the existing obstacles so that relations between the two countries can be normalized. Allow me to conclude my statement with the hope that the United Nations will rise to the challenge of seizing the opportunities and surmounting the challenges so that it truly becomes an institution to which all Member States entrust their aspirations and in which their views are heard and their actions coordinated. For its part, Viet Nam, in its efforts towards renewal, development and integration with the international community, will always be a positive factor for peace, national independence and social progress, and a sincere and reliable cooperation partner in the region as well as in the world. I should also like to take this opportunity to extend to his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Stoyan Ganev of Bulgaria, my heartfelt congratulations on the efficient manner in which he presided over the General Assembly at its forty-seventh session. Let me also take this opportunity to pay a special tribute, once again, to our Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for the high quality of leadership he is providing to our Organization. It is encouraging to note the growing membership of the United Nations each year. It is, in the words of the Secretary-General, an explosion in United Nations member- ship. I should like to extend, on behalf of the Gambia and on my own behalf, sincere congratulations to Eritrea, the Principality of Andorra and the Principality of Monaco on their admission as Members of the United Nations. It is our fervent hope that they will not only be able to realize their national aspirations but also contribute to the positive fulfilment of mankind’s hope for a better world. It was with deep shock and sorrow that we learned of the devastating earthquake in parts of India. In this connection, I should like to convey the heartfelt condolences of the Government of the Gambia to the Government of India and the members of the bereaved families on the occasion of this catastrophe. We also commend the laudable efforts of the Government of India in coping with this massive disaster. We are meeting this year against the background of renewed hope, following the significant developments in the Middle East and South Africa. Until recently, the Middle - East crisis and the situation in South Africa posed a real threat to international peace and security. Today, however, it can be said with a high degree of certainty that in both cases the peace process is irreversible. The other notable event of major international significance has been the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna last June. Coming soon after the end of the cold war and 25 years after the first International Conference on Human Rights, this year’s World Conference For us in the Gambia, the convening of the World Conference on Human Rights was a refreshing experience, given our long-established tradition in the protection and promotion of human rights. The Conference enabled us to strengthen our resolve to continue to uphold these much- cherished values. In reviewing the outcome of the World Conference on Human Rights, my delegation is pleased with the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, which will serve as a human-rights blueprint for the next century. I would urge the Assembly to consider and approve the document. We regret, however, the failure of the Conference to agree on the setting up of the office of high commissioner for human rights. My Government continues to give its strong support to this proposal, as we are convinced that the office, if created, would facilitate greater coordination of United Nations efforts and provide a more prompt and effective response to critical cases of gross violations. The issue of human rights, however, needs to be addressed fully in all its composite parts. Political and civil rights go hand in hand with economic, social and cultural rights. Such problems as poverty, hunger, and illiteracy that have characterized developing countries constitute a serious threat to stability and respect for political rights in these countries. As my President, Sir Dawda Jawara stated at the Conference in Vienna in respect of political rights and the right to development, "We need to remind ourselves of the indivisibility and the interdependence of both rights and the necessity of giving equal attention and urgent consideration to both". It is saddening to note that at a time when such internationally recognized values as democracy, human rights and rule of law are becoming the order of the day almost everywhere, some seemingly intractable conflicts in other parts of the world threaten to turn back the hands of time. The situation in Somalia, which appeared to have improved only about a year ago, has suddenly deteriorated, generating cause for serious concern. My delegation is In the present circumstances the need for general and complete disarmament of all factions cannot be overemphasized, and this must be pursued with renewed vigour. I should like to appeal to the United Nations and, in particular, to the United States of America and all those other countries that have agreed to send troops to Somalia to continue their assistance so that peace and security can return to this troubled land. We call on all the parties to the conflict to cooperate fully, to respect all the relevant Security Council resolutions and to implement without any further delay the Addis Ababa accord aimed at achieving national reconciliation. The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina also constitutes a major preoccupation of the international community. Recent efforts to establish a credible and lasting peace in the country have yet to bear fruit. The failure, so far, to resolve the conflict and the persistent disregard of Security Council resolutions - in particular, resolution 713 (1991) - make the situation even more desperate. The Gambia deplores the continued Serbian aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It deplores the acquisition of territory by force, by means of the heinous practice of "ethnic cleansing" and other war crimes. My delegation is firmly of the view that if the international community is unwilling or unable to protect the defenceless Muslim population against Serbian aggression, it must be given the opportunity to defend itself in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which recognizes that peoples must be able to exercise their right of self-defence. We welcome the establishment of an international war crimes tribunal as a fitting response to the atrocities perpetrated in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Angola, the fighting continues with unprecedented intensity and ferocity. We condemn the naked and brutal This year - 1993 - has not been one just of conflict, turmoil and bloodshed. Very notable successes have been achieved in mankind’s search for peace, and these augur well for the future. With the conclusion of the Cotonou Peace Accord and the installation of a five-man Council of State to lead Liberia to democratic elections after six months, there is renewed hope of a peaceful and lasting solution to the Liberian conflict. We welcome the contribution of the Government of the United States of America to the United Nations Trust Fund, and we call on all other donor countries to contribute similarly so that additional peace-keeping forces may be speedily deployed in Liberia to ensure full implementation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) peace agreement. With respect to South Africa, there are now clear indications that the peace process is on track and that change is irreversible. My delegation welcomes the agreement reached in the multi-party negotiating forum to set up a Transitional Executive Council, following agreement on the date of the first non-racial, democratic elections. In this connection, we fully support the recent appeal of the President of the African National Congress (ANC), Mr. Nelson Mandela, that sanctions be lifted. The removal of sanctions would send to all parties a strong, positive signal that the rest of the international community will not be found wanting in support and encouragement for the difficult transition to a non-racial and democratic society. However, we regret the recurrence of violence, which, if it is not addressed satisfactorily, may have serious repercussions for the transitional arrangements. We therefore call on the South African authorities to redouble their efforts to stem the rising tide of political violence. The recent breakthrough in the Middle East talks, evidenced by the deal between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) granting limited autonomy to the Palestinians in Gaza and in the city of Jericho, is a most welcome development. It constitutes a major step in the While the recent developments between Israel and its Arab neighbours provide ground for much optimism, the situation between Kuwait and Iraq has failed to register similar progress. I call on the Government of Iraq to comply fully with United Nations resolutions and, in particular, to ensure the early release of Kuwaiti and other prisoners. We have followed with keen interest the successful conduct by the United Nations of elections in Cambodia. We congratulate the Secretary-General and his staff, as well as all the countries that helped to bring stability back to Cambodia. We hope that the lessons of this exercise will be consolidated and will be applied to other trouble spots that may require the assistance of the United Nations. The threat to world peace and stability emanates not only from armed conflicts but also from socio-economic factors. The global economic recession has led to worsening economic and social problems. Among the pressing economic difficulties that continue to face the developing countries is the problem of external debt servicing, which is one of the major obstacles to development. In sub-Saharan Africa, the debt stock has increased to $185 billion - equivalent to 110 per cent of that region’s gross domestic product. As of today, one third of Africa’s total export earning is paid to the developed countries in the North to service its debts. This situation cannot be allowed to continue. More than ever before, there is a need for a concerted and innovative international effort to find a permanent solution to the problem. It is our view that the international community - particularly the industrialized countries - has not given this problem the level of attention it deserves. While Africa’s indebtedness has continued unabated, its production output, in both agriculture and industry, has continued to decline. The combined negative effect is aggravated by serious inflation, which has contributed to a steep decline in domestic savings and investment. I should add that the removal of unfair trade practices would go a long way towards eliminating the need for aid. This is why we are anxious to see an early conclusion of the Uruguay Round, which we hope will address the thorny issue of market access, as this is of major concern to developing countries. Finally on this issue we call on the United Nations to provide the necessary support for the successful implementa- tion of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s and the work of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on African Economic Recovery and Development. We welcome the initiative of the Japanese Government in convening the Tokyo International Conference on African Development and hope it will contribute to the mobilization of financial and technological resources much needed to ensure Africa’s development. In translating the spirit of Rio de Janeiro into action, the Gambia has already launched its Environmental Action Plan in order to address the serious environmental problems facing the country. Coming from a Sahelian country we remain particularly concerned about the continuous threat posed by drought and human actions to our fragile ecosystem. We welcome the setting up of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee and the commencement of the negotiation process for the drawing up of an international convention to combat drought and desertification particularly in Africa. The Gambia will continue to give full support to this Committee. The success of our efforts to implement Agenda 21 and other programmes approved in Rio and adopted by the General Assembly will depend to a very large extent on the availability of funds and the commitment of our partners to share resources and encourage technology transfer to forge a truly global partnership between developed and developing countries in sustainable development. In this connection we share the view that the Global Environment Facility (GEF) should be restructured to allow for the increased participation of developing countries in all its activities as well as for inclusion of desertification as one It has now become established practice to convene summit meetings on issues of major concern to humanity. These summits provide an opportunity to arrive at a collective decision at the highest level on ways and means of resolving these difficulties. It is in this light that we welcome the World Conference on Population and Development and the World Summit for Social Development to be convened in 1995. As we move closer to the end of this century, so is the United Nations moving closer to its fiftieth anniversary, signalling the maturity of our thoughts and the wisdom of our actions in seeking global peace and security. As the primary role of the United Nations is the maintenance of world peace and security, it becomes imperative in this post-cold-war era to prepare the world body to carry out its mandate as stipulated in its Charter, taking into account the prevailing international political climate. In this connection my delegation notes with keen interest the restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations. We welcome efforts to streamline and rationalize the work of the General Assembly at the level of both the plenary Assembly and the Main Committees. These efforts, it is hoped, will strengthen the decision-making role of the General Assembly and enhance its effectiveness and efficiency as the largest and most important organ of the United Nations system. Furthermore, the relationship between the General Assembly and the Security Council should be redefined and better coordinated. As regards the reorganization of the Security Council, efforts should be made to ensure transparency in its work and activities. The Gambia would support any proposals for the reorganization of the Security Council on the basis of equitable geographical representation. I wish to conclude by again expressing our faith in the capacity of the United Nations, strengthened in its authority and credibility, to face the many challenges that lie ahead. Namibia welcomes all the newest Members of the Organization and assures them of its readiness to interact with them in the spirit of friendship and solidarity. The President of the Assembly hails from a friendly country, Guyana, which did so much to spearhead the struggle of the Namibian people for self-determination, liberation and democracy. The Government and people of Guyana spared no effort in manifesting, in word and deed, their unswerving support for and solidarity with the Namibian cause in different world forums. I know all this because I have spent many years at the United Nations and during this time I visited Georgetown, his nation’s capital, and other parts of Guyana on more than one occasion. The hospitality and camaraderie of his brotherly people always touched me very deeply. In his past and present incarnations in the service of his great country, he and I have collaborated on various issues of common interest. It is against this background of mutual friendship and solidarity, therefore, that I congratulate him most warmly on his brilliant election as President of this challenging session of the Assembly. His sterling stewardship is already so effectively manifest that the successful conclusion of our deliberations is assured. I also wish to place on record our sincere appreciation to his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Stoyan Ganev of Bulgaria, for the effective leadership he provided last session. Our illustrious Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, has since his appointment been spearheading an effective and innovative global campaign aimed at streamlining and strengthening the role of the United Nations in peace-keeping operations and in economic and humanitarian issues. His "Agenda for Peace" has provided a useful framework for discussing these and other pressing issues relating to the maintenance of world peace and security. Namibia commends the Secretary-General for his tireless efforts. On the threshold of a new millennium, and as we are about to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, it is an appropriate time to reflect and take stock. At its forty-seventh session the General Assembly, in resolution 47/62, on the "Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council", recognized that in the changing global situation there was a need to reorganize, revitalize and democratize the Security Council. The end of the cold war has created new expectations that the Security Council will take on larger responsibilities and a greater role in the maintenance of international peace and security. But if the Security Council is to be a credible organ of the United Nations, it must fulfil these expectations of a changing and demanding world. It is with this in mind that the "Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council" should be addressed. Changes towards a more representative Council would, no doubt, enhance its credibility, legitimacy and authority. Namibia supports the view that the membership of the Security Council should be increased and more permanent and non-permanent members added, taking into consideration equitable geographical representation. Africa itself needs an effective presence on the Council, as do Asia and Latin America. The outmoded and undemocratic veto power should be abolished altogether. Likewise, there is a compelling need for the restructuring of other organs, such as the General Assembly itself and the Economic and Social Council. The member States of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, working in close partnership with the Group of 77, should involve themselves fully in the ongoing discussions on the restructuring of these vital organs of the United Nations. Today we are witnessing a new phenomenon in international relations, characterized by a sense of consensus deriving from shared interests, in which the credibility and centrality of the United Nations in dealing with global conflicts has been greatly enhanced. Indeed, we have witnessed the Organization fulfilling its mandate in the area of the maintenance of international peace and security. We in Namibia believe that now is the opportune moment to establish a new role and purpose for a conflict- resolution mechanism which is appropriate to the post-cold- war era and to the needs and aspirations of succeeding generations. The renewed commitment towards conflict resolution must be transformed into a realistic programme of action, relating to preventive diplomacy, peacemaking, Now more than ever, much is expected of the United Nations in the area of conflict resolution. The Organization has a golden opportunity to ensure that those expectations which "We the peoples" set forth in the Charter, are met by further enhancing its effectiveness. It is an accepted fact that peace and stability are necessary, albeit not sufficient, conditions for economic development. Therefore, peace-keeping, peacemaking and peace-building should go hand in hand with economic development. For peace-keeping operations to be effective, Member States should pay promptly their assessed contributions to the regular budget and to peace-keeping operations. In this context, we support the establishment of the reserve fund aimed at improving the start-up financing of peace-keeping operations. In Cambodia, the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) accomplished its task satisfactorily. Namibia was happy to have contributed polling officers and a staffed contingent of reinforced vehicles, called wolves, to UNTAC. We did this because it was, after all, in Namibia that a United Nations peace-keeping operation scored its first large-scale victory. Namibia will favourably consider participation in future United Nations peace-keeping operations. Unfortunately, other peace-keeping operations have not as yet achieved the same positive results. It is our hope that the United Nations will continue to help resolve the conflicts in Somalia, Angola, Rwanda, Liberia, Mozambique, Haiti and Bosnia and Herzegovina, among others. With regard to Angola, Mr. Savimbi’s rejection of last year’s election results was a major set-back. It has plunged that sister country further into a most horrible human tragedy. The horrendous carnage there continues to claim about 1,000 innocent lives a day. It is further reported that from 2 million to 3 million innocent Angolans are at risk of dying of either direct or indirect effects of this senseless war. It is the view of the Namibian Government that the resumption of negotiations should lead to an early cease-fire, which will allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the suffering Angolan people, reconciliation and consolidation of the Government of National Unity. To this end, and in the face of Mr. Savimbi’s persistent intransigence, the Security Council had no other alternative but to impose sanctions against UNITA. Namibia, therefore, supports Security Council resolution 864 (1993) which, inter alia, calls for the prohibition of all sale or supply to UNITA of arms and related materiél and military assistance, as well as petroleum and petroleum products, and urges all Member States to implement these measures. We believe also that if UNITA continues to flout Security Council resolutions, additional forms of punitive sanctions should be imposed. Concerning the situation in Somalia, Namibia supports the United Nations peace-keeping operation there. My delegation holds the view that disarming the various factions would allow the people of Somalia to build genuine bridges of reconciliation and bring about the restoration of a civil society. Under the present circumstances, and in spite of provocations by General Aidid’s faction, the United Nations Operation in Somalia should continue to carry out its mandate. Our hearts go out in sympathy to all those countries whose nationals, including innocent Somalis, have made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the United Nations and human brotherhood. Any precipitous withdrawal, however, would be to the detriment of innocent Somali people and is likely to reverse the whole process. This should not be allowed to happen. In Mozambique, we are encouraged to note that the cease-fire continues to hold and that the process appears to be moving forward. I can hardly overemphasize that it is absolutely imperative for elections to be conducted in an atmosphere of peace, trust and cooperation - and this means that the armed forces must first be confined to base and demobilized, in accordance with the General Peace Agreement agreed to last year by the two parties. Namibia, along with the other members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Southern Africa of the Organization of African Unity, supports the call made by the President of the African National Congress, Mr. Nelson Mandela, to lift all remaining economic sanctions against South Africa. Namibia further supports the lifting of the oil embargo after the establishment and commencement of the work of the Transitional Executive Council, as well as the establishment or restoration of full diplomatic relations with South Africa, following the installation of an elected Interim Government of National Unity, pursuant to democratic elections next year. The Middle East, the cradle of some of the world’s major religions, has witnessed bloody conflicts for the greater part of this century and has been on the agenda of the United Nations since its inception. Namibia welcomes the historic breakthrough represented by mutual recognition and the declaration of principles signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Palestinian self-rule in Gaza and the city of Jericho. Despite their long enmity, the leaders of the State of Israel and the PLO summoned the political courage to embrace peace. We can only hope that the historic handshake between Mr. Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, and Mr. Arafat, Chairman of the PLO, will usher in a new era in that region. Granted, this is only a first step, but it constitutes a firm basis for building a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East. However, for this undertaking to succeed, the infusion of large-scale and sustained international financial and humanitarian assistance is required. Encouraged by the historic and momentous breakthrough in the Middle East and the positive developments in South Africa, and also taking into consideration the emerging climate in favour of rapprochement in inter-State relations, we believe that the Peace and stability in the Middle East are critically important not only to that region but also to the world as a whole. In this context, Namibia associates itself with Security Council resolution 833 (1993) of 27 May 1993, dealing with the territorial integrity of Kuwait and inviolability of its borders. We reiterate our full support for the right of the people of Kuwait and its Government to defend their sovereignty and independence. Namibia is a small State, and we understand the predicament of small States. During the last session, I updated this august Assembly on the progress made in our bilateral negotiations with the Government of South Africa on the issue of the transfer and reintegration of Walvis Bay and the Offshore Islands into Namibia. Today, I am happy to report that the matter has finally been resolved. On 28 February 1994, the transfer and reintegration of Walvis Bay and the Offshore Islands into Namibia will take place. This will, at last, mark the completion of the decolonization of Namibia and the unification of our nation. I take this opportunity to express our deep appreciation to the Member States for their consistent support, over the years, of Security Council resolution 432 (1978) on Walvis Bay. I would also like to thank, in particular, the South African Multi-Party Negotiating Forum for adopting an important resolution which speeded up this process. The Rio Earth Summit marked an historic turning-point in the long struggle to increase international awareness about the true nature of the global environmental crisis. The Summit effectively moved a long way towards a better understanding of how future economic development is inextricably linked to sound policies aimed at promoting and protecting the environment. Let me now turn to the socio-economic problems we are facing today. Despite the promise world leaders made to children at the World Summit for Children here in New York in 1990, education, health, water, shelter and food security remain inaccessible to millions of children in the developing world - and Namibia is no exception. In Africa, problems of hunger, malnutrition, disease, and so on, continue to thwart the commitment we made last year at Dakar during the International Conference on Assistance for the African Child, to place children first. In furtherance of this commitment, and convinced that the problems of the Namibian children can be addressed only in a comprehensive manner, we have already integrated the National Programme of Action on children into the overall National Development Plan. This National Development Plan constitutes the basis for social and economic development in Namibia. In this context, primary health care, education, provision of water and rural development are among the priorities of our National Development Plan. The 20/20 Vision programme we adopted at Dakar must be implemented if we are to achieve tangible results by the year 1995, when we shall review progress made since the 1990 World Summit, including in particular the fate and welfare of those children engulfed in war situations. The recent World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna has further exposed the unmitigated violence and other forms of injustice being perpetrated against women throughout the world. The Namibian Constitution contains specific provisions on protection of the rights of women and promotion of their welfare. Furthermore, Namibia is a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It is against this background that we in Namibia have taken measures to raise women’s awareness of their rights by translating this Convention into indigenous languages. In the same vein, we applaud the appointment of the Special Rapporteur to study the issue of violence against women. It is with this in mind that Namibia looks forward to the Fourth World Conference on Women, in anticipation that its decisions will further advance the cause of women in the world, especially in Africa. In order to meet the acute shortages of housing, the Government has embarked upon a programme to provide adequate housing to the Namibian people by the year 2000. In recognition of this national effort, Namibia was awarded the Habitat Scroll of Honour for 1993 for our National Housing Programme, called "Build Together". This award was received by my distinguished colleague, the Honourable Mrs. Libertine Amathila, Minister of Local and Regional Government and Housing, two days ago. I would like to echo the words of my colleague by thanking Habitat for this outstanding honour. In conclusion, I wish to reiterate my Government’s belief that the United Nations, as a unique international body, can live up to its lofty ideals of creating a peaceful, secure and just world for us and for generations to come. To this end, Namibia pledges its total commitment.

We have heard the last speaker in the general debate for this meeting. A number of representatives have asked to speak in exercise of their right of reply, and I shall call on them now. I remind members that statements made in exercise of the right of reply are limited to 10 minutes for the first intervention and to five minutes for the second intervention, and should be made by delegations from their seats.

Yesterday, 5 October, the Foreign Minister of our sister Republic of Ecuador, Mr. Diego Paredes Peña, made a statement in which he rightly made extended reference to the cordial relations between our two countries and to recent initiatives by the Governments of Peru and of Ecuador in their shared desire to broaden the ties binding the two countries for the good of the development of our two peoples and to bring them closer together. My Government fully agrees with the comments made by Foreign Minister Paredes, for we too are motivated by a desire for an improved climate of respect, cooperation and friendship between our two countries. Such a climate should enable us to deal in a unified way with the rich array of My Government wishes also to stress its devotion to peace and to respect for the international legal order, as reflected in its faithful and unflagging adherence to the principles and purposes enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. For that reason, the Government of Peru cannot but agree completely that any difference or controversy should be resolved by peaceful means as recognized and prescribed in international law. In that connection, the President of the Republic of Peru, Mr. Alberto Fujimori, made a comprehensive proposal in November 1991 for friendship, cooperation and integration. By developing and implementing these purposes and principles and by conforming to the spirit of fraternal ties inspired by the 1942 Rio de Janeiro Protocol, that proposal aimed at establishing an interesting and beneficial working agenda for Peru and Ecuador with the aim of identifying once and for all the demarcation of the outstanding portions of our common border, of signing a treaty on trade and navigation on the Amazon and its southern tributaries, of achieving a broad agreement on border integration, and of arriving at agreements that would foster mutual trust and security. In that context of cordial and beneficial relations, Peru has proposed deepened bilateral dialogue and direct talks between the two Governments. It is also prepared to establish machinery for coordination and consultation, which hitherto have been lacking. We are convinced that this diplomatic exercise will provide room for developments that should greatly promote closer communication between our two Governments. The bilateral instruments that link us provide for a system for the settlement of disputes, which several times has proven valid and effective in properly overcoming difficulties that have caused it to be invoked. In accordance with the instruments, machinery and systems to which I have referred, Peru proposed to Ecuador the viable and appropriate procedure of jointly asking the countries guarantors of the 1942 Rio de Janeiro Protocol to have the Holy See appoint an expert to complete the demarcation of the outstanding segments of our common border. In that same constructive spirit, which should prevail between two sister countries, Peru has always maintained that cooperation and integration between Peru and Ecuador should prevail in all the geographical areas the two countries share, from the Pacific and the Andes to the vast Amazon Hence, the Government of Peru was particularly pleased by the statement by the Foreign Minister of Ecuador that his country was renewing and reaffirming its determination to renounce the use or threat of use of force in relations with my country. We were pleased also because that statement is in complete accord with Peru’s determination in this regard, in recognition of the bilateral and multilateral commitments binding the two countries, to consolidate a climate of détente and mutual trust and to develop a level of security that responds to our common desire to strengthen friendship and cooperation between our two nations. The President of the Republic of Peru, Mr. Alberto Fujimori, took great pleasure in extending a warm invitation to the President of Ecuador, His Excellency Mr. Sixto Durán Ballén, to visit our country whenever the interests of consolidating friendship between Peru and Ecuador would best be served. It was with equal pleasure that we learned of President Fujimori’s acceptance of the invitation to visit Peru, whose people and Government will reciprocate the appreciation and support that the noble people of Ecuador demonstrated to the President of the Republic of Peru during his official visit to Quito in January 1992.

A few days ago, the representative of Albania, exercising his right of reply in response to the statement of the Foreign Minister of Greece before the General Assembly, tried to dismiss our legitimate concern regarding the unsatisfactory situation of the large Greek minority in Albania, attributing our understandable concern to "extreme nationalism for electoral purposes". (A/48/PV.13, p. 173) But the unacceptable treatment of the Greek minority has been highlighted in many reports of international bodies, very recently by the European Parliament, which, in a resolution adopted on 14 July 1993, called upon the Albanian Government to respect the cultural and religious rights of the Greek minority in Albania. For its part, Greece, which scrupulously applies the norms and provisions of the basic documents of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) on minorities, expects Albania to act in the same respectful manner, specifically with regard to educational and religious freedom. Furthermore, the Permanent Mission of Albania circulated a press release, dated 4 October 1993, misrepresenting the content of a letter addressed by the CSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Mr. van der Stoel, to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Albania. Indeed, an inappropriate effort was made to present the views of the Albanian authorities regarding the treatment of the Greek minority as the conclusions and recommendations of the High Commissioner himself. Greece, which from the beginning of the new era supported Albania in its first steps towards democratization and reconstruction, accepts the expression of Albania’s gratitude in this respect and intends to be a friendly and supportive neighbour in the future. At this point, I should like to mention that my country’s humanitarian and economic assistance was not limited to the southern part of Albania only, but covered the central and northern part of it as well. May I add that the attitude and behaviour of the Albanian authorities towards The Greek delegation took note of the commitment made before the Assembly by the Albanian Minister for Foreign Affairs that his Government "is determined to build a modern State and a civilized society, based on respect for the human rights of all strata of the population without exception or discrimination ... so that persons belonging to national minorities can assert their own national identity". (A/48/PV.5, p. 154) We are looking forward to seeing those words followed by deeds.

The delegation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea wishes to express its regret at the fact that the Foreign Minister of Singapore, in his statement this morning, used impolite and immoral terms when referring to my country, terms improper to his official position. My delegation strongly believes that such behaviour should not reoccur in this Hall.

The delegation of Albania will avail itself of the opportunity to respond to the statement made by the representative of Greece at a later stage in the general debate.