General Assembly Session 50 meeting 38

The President

This afternoon we hold the fourth meeting of the Special Commemorative Meeting of the General Assembly on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations.

The Assembly will first hear an address by His Majesty King Mswati III, Head of State of the Kingdom of Swaziland.

King Mswati III (Swaziland)

I bring with me from the Kingdom of Swaziland the greetings and good wishes of Her Majesty and of the entire Swazi nation to all our friends and fellow members of the United Nations.

My task today is a very simple one: it is to declare my country's continuing commitment to the founding Charter of our Organization and to pledge our support to the United Nations and its agencies, through the provisions of the Declaration we shall be adopting.

This Declaration includes the original purposes and principles of our Organization and the same hopes and expectations of the founding leaders. For them, after the experience of two world wars, the idea of a world united in pursuit of peaceful development represented the best chance for humanity to focus its energy and resources, not on the futility of conflict, but on the necessities of survival.

Fifty years later, experience provides us with a clear image of our failures -- as well as of our achievements -- and requires of us that we learn from our mistakes and build on our successes. We have much to be proud of, and we honour particularly those whose lives have been dedicated and lost in the service of mankind.

Among those of us who have the privilege of addressing this historic gathering, I may, if God so wills, be one of the few who will be present when we commemorate our Organization's centenary, in the year 2045. I say this not out of pride, nor in the rashness of youth; I say this because today I stand before you, representing not only my country, but also the youth of the world and the generations still to come whose expectations and hopes for their own lives and for the future of mankind must form the focus for the United Nations in the next 50 years.

And what are those expectations, those hopes? I believe the United Nations founding fathers would have recognized their own goals in those of my generation. They are not too much to ask. They are, after all, what every human being has a right to expect -- to have good health, shelter, security for one's family, to be free to pursue the ideas and beliefs of choice, to be educated and employed and, above all, to be able to live in peace on equal terms with one another and in harmony with all God's creations.

The Declaration we have before us, with its blueprint for the improved performance of the United Nations, represents our best chance to realize our people's dreams.

It requires of us, as Members of an Organization from which not one person or nation must feel excluded, to work together with a common purpose and to a collective set of priorities and principles.

We recognize the need for the United Nations and its agencies to have the structures and capacity to be able to work on our behalf with efficiency, transparency and accountability and always with an ear to the wishes of its membership.

The key decision-making bodies in which we place our trust must adapt in such a way that they truly represent all countries and arrive at conclusions that take into account the opinions and welfare of our peoples.

As Members, we must each of us recognize the responsibility we assume with our membership: to support our Organization, to respect one another's sovereignty, traditions and individuality; to implement the plans of action designed for our social, economic and political development and to abide by the principles of our founding Charter for the good of those whom we represent.

In the year 2045, I wish to be able to stand and meet the gaze of my children, and my grandchildren, and say, "We did our best". If we can all share this commitment to future generations -- and if our Organization can adapt to the changing requirements of the times -- then the world in 50 years' time will be a safer, happier place for all and we will have discharged our duty to our own peoples and to all mankind.

On behalf of the Kingdom of Swaziland, I do so commit myself and my people to the future of the United Nations in the belief that it is the one, global organization with the capacity and purpose to allow us to reach our goals.

The President

I thank the Head of State of the Kingdom of Swaziland for his statement.

The President

The Assembly will next hear an address by His Excellency Retired Flight-Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, President of the Republic of Ghana.

President Rawlings (Ghana)

Today we acknowledge and applaud that powerful vision of the equal rights of nations, large and small, of men and women, and of freedom and justice enshrined in the noble Charter of the United Nations.

The Charter has given the post-war international community of States moral and legal bearings. It has expressed in unforgettable words, with irresistible logic, the principles on which a new, better world could be built, a world where tolerance and mutual respect would reign.

This fiftieth anniversary is indeed cause for celebration: United Nations membership has grown from 51 States to 185; the old colonial empires, as we all know, have been dismantled, even if new forms are emerging; the cold war may seem to be at an end, though many of us are still living with its very painful legacies; and issues of the environment, women and children, social development and population have been placed at the centre of the development agenda. Let me on this occasion pay tribute to the honourable lady from Tanzania, Mrs. Mongelia, under whose leadership the Fourth World Conference on Women, in Beijing, successfully got its point across to the world. Today, we know that development means people and the quality of their lives, and not just statistical indices.

On this very important occasion, I salute the United Nations on your behalf, most of all for the millions who are healthier, safer and happier through one form of United Nations action or another. We must also salute the United Nations agencies for the millions of refugees worldwide who, but for the Organization, would have lost hope and even life itself. We must pay tribute to the United Nations for its peace-keeping efforts to stem human suffering. Finally, we must also pay tribute to the United Nations for the independence of many new States and for the end of apartheid rule, especially in South Africa.

In congratulating the United Nations, we are applauding ourselves. The Organization is very much us. It is the collective will of the international community of sovereign States, embodying our collective weaknesses as well. This fiftieth anniversary is therefore also a time for very sober reflection on our failures. Talking about our failures, I think it is also important that on this occasion, as we applaud ourselves for our successes, we must at the same time acknowledge that expressed in the many conflict situations in different parts of the world are very painful situations resulting in the loss of many lives.

Within this sober reflection, we must also admit failures that are manifested in the revival of genocide and in ethnic cleansing, blatantly practised in different guises around this globe of ours. These failures are shown on the distended stomachs of malnourished children all over the third world, and most especially on my continent, in Africa. For us in Africa particularly, the next 50 years will perhaps be even more crucial than the past 50 years. We want to see in the international community, and in the framework of the United Nations, a reversal of our continent's marginalization.

We cannot help being struck by the fact that the international community is willing to spend $5 million a day on United Nations peace-keeping operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina -- and we do not begrudge those noble people such international solidarity; indeed, they deserve it -- but when we have asked for a sum that represents 10 to 15 days of that bill to help those of us in Africa who are making every possible effort to assist ourselves with our meagre resources, there is a deafening silence. Should such double standards continue? This is the question I put before you. How long will world statesmen omit even a glancing reference to Africa as they survey the world scene, despite the numerous resources that she has provided to today's modern world?

Let us not forget that Africa's resources -- as I have said, both human and material -- have over the centuries made a very major contribution to the wealth of nations and to human progress. We must therefore denounce the selfishness that has the means and sees the other's needs, but refuses to meet them. We see the reckless over-consumption of some amid the wrenching, grinding poverty of so many. We feel the hunger in the midst of plenty, the want in the midst of so much abundance.

We must equally deplore the international focus on only what is negative about Africa and the indifference to the positive that also prevails on this continent: the images of starving children but not of new schools and clinics; the emphasis on failed policies but not on success stories that have been chalked up all over the continent, very often with the assistance of the developed community, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as the World Bank; and the focus on urban degradation but not on new industrial progress, which is another unfortunate misrepresentation of what is taking place on our continent.

Let us hope that the next 50 years of the United Nations will see the end of these double standards in our international affairs. As we salute the Organization's achievements and acknowledge its shortcomings, we must do everything possible to commit ourselves to reform and democratization within this august body. Let us together recapture that vision of the Organization's founding fathers and keep the hopes of millions alive. Let us, the trustees of that vision, turn our words into positive action for generations to come. Let us build a world in which the sense of internationalism that gave us this honourable Charter will carry us into a twenty-first century where right and not might will prevail; where justice will subdue injustice; and where the small and weak can safely live alongside the big and strong without feeling intimidated.

Let us remember that there can be no bright future for the world, no new international order that is sustainable, without Africa occupying a dignified place, her rightful place at the table of humanity and in the councils of global decision-making.

The President

I thank the President of the Republic of Ghana for his statement.

The President

The Assembly will next hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Soeharto, President of the Republic of Indonesia.

President Soeharto (Indonesia)

I deem it a distinct privilege for me to participate, on behalf of the Government and people of Indonesia, in this historic commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations.

The fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations is particularly significant to us in Indonesia, for this year we are also celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of our independence. It is no coincidence that both the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution of Indonesia embrace the same principles and objectives, both yearning for the universal peace that will come only when all humankind share the fruits of freedom and justice.

For Indonesia, the United Nations is an important forum for the fulfilment of our constitutional mandate to contribute to the eradication of colonialism, domination, poverty and injustice everywhere and to the shaping of a new international order. The United Nations has figured prominently in Indonesia's struggle to preserve its freedom.

The United Nations has played a crucial role in containing conflicts in various regions. To ensure peace in this post-cold war era, however, we need to enhance the capabilities of the United Nations through more effective global and regional mechanisms for peacemaking, peace-keeping and post-conflict peace-building, as well as preventive diplomacy.

On the whole, the United Nations and its specialized agencies have pursued an immense array of activities that touch every aspect of people's lives all over the world. It cannot, however, continue to carry them out with undiminished success and vigour while it totters on the brink of financial insolvency. This situation cannot go on indefinitely without adverse consequences to the world community.

Let this fiftieth anniversary of our Organization be an occasion for all of us to address this critical issue, as well as the issues relating to its reform, revitalization and democratization, so that it will be able to adapt to the challenges of our time.

Since the 1960s the United Nations has launched a series of international development strategies, but these have not been sufficient to redress the imbalances between the developed and the developing countries. The gap between them continues to widen. The developing countries remain marginalized from the world economic decision-making processes.

With the end of the cold war, there has been a new surge of interdependence and multilateralism, while the world economy has become increasingly globalized. The Non-Aligned Movement, at its Jakarta Summit in 1992, adopted a new approach and orientation and launched an initiative to once again engage the developed countries in a dialogue, based this time on mutual interests and benefits, equitably shared responsibility and genuine interdependence. It is our hope that the revival of this dialogue will be distinctly reflected in the Agenda for Development so that it will adequately complement the Agenda for Peace.

In these troubled times, we, the Governments and peoples of the world, look up to the United Nations for the sustenance of our hopes. There is no question but that we need the United Nations. What we often forget is that the United Nations needs us too. We applaud its triumphs, but we often forget that its failures are ours too. Its responsibility is our responsibility.

The United Nations has served us well over the past half century. However, we will never be able to realize the new international order of greater peace, social justice and common prosperity so long as the Organization is allowed to remain in the state that it is in today. We can reach that goal only after we have finally made the United Nations the effective instrument of peace that was envisaged 50 years ago.

The President

I thank the President of the Republic of Indonesia for his statement.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Bailey Olter, President of the Federated States of Micronesia.

President Olter (Micronesia)

I have the honour and privilege of bringing to this historic gathering the greetings and best wishes of all the people of the Federated States of Micronesia. The presence here of so many nations represented at the highest level is the greatest testament to the universality of the United Nations and provides us with a strong political foundation on which to chart our Organization's role for the next 50 years.

As other speakers have noted, this is a time not only for celebration, but also a time for reflection and assessment. As a people who have placed special reliance on the United Nations throughout its existence, Micronesians living today have always felt we were a part of the Organization even though we became a Member only a few years ago.

We will remain grateful to the members and staff of the Trusteeship Council and to the United States, as Trusteeship Administering Authority, for the roles they played in our progress towards self-determination and, finally, independence. It is fitting that just prior to this anniversary the Trusteeship Council completed its work. Thus, the successful discharge of its heavy assignment under the Charter is one of the accomplishments we rightly celebrate here today.

Today we also celebrate the fact that in the course of the past 50 years there has been a sharp decline in the practice of colonialism by the world's major Powers. But, unlike the experience with the Trusteeship system, the Charter has been less effective in bringing some nations to put aside their own self-interests and assign their colonial holdings to a rightful place in the history books. This unfortunate reality still affects the lives of thousands of people throughout the region of the Pacific Islands.

Because our region is distant from the homelands of the colonial Powers, it retains a certain usefulness to them for the disposal of their dangerous materials and for the conduct of tests and other practices too hazardous to carry out at home. Thus, on assertion of the sovereign rights of Governments half a world away, we, along with the colonial inhabitants, are forced to endure the consequences of these actions, consequences which will be felt for generations to come. This dampens our celebration today.

As we know, the Charter commits all Members to take separate and joint action to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights. This is closely related to broad obligations regarding Non-Self-Governing Territories. Sad to say, however, these goals of the Charter remain largely unrealized, despite dedicated and persistent efforts on the part of United Nations Members over many years. Indeed, brave people have laid down their lives in the service of the United Nations in pursuing these goals, and we honour them here. Their sacrifices are not in vain.

It is our hope that during the next 50 years strides can be made in achieving better harmony between the inevitable considerations of national self-interest and the legitimate rights and expectations of the less empowered people of the world. I fully realize that even today such a statement sounds idealistic, and that is the problem we face. Nevertheless, only in such a context can real life be breathed into sections of the Charter that have not been adequately addressed during the first 50 years.

The accomplishments of the United Nations up to now as a forum for the advancement of world peace and security cannot be minimized, and I salute those accomplishments while recognizing the work that remains. But this Organization has an even greater mission. As populations grow and make increasing demands on the limited resources of our planet, even the most richly endowed among us must come to understand the great, futuristic vision of the Charter. It wisely calls upon peoples and Governments large and small, rich and poor, to incorporate in their policies and actions true respect for the right of all, including the least privileged among us, to live in conditions of decency and equality.

This challenge is not only for the developed world, but applies equally to developing nations. It is not a simplistic call for more North/South assistance. Instead, it seeks a universal awakening to the single most important reality of our lives today. This reality is that all our interests become more closely linked with each passing generation. We all have responsibilities if we are to turn back the consequences of our past selfish behaviour. The destruction of war, the improper stewardship of our natural resources, the pollution of our living space, the diminishment of our biological diversity and the havoc we will wreak upon the very climate of our planet, will all combine to overwhelm the Earth's population unless we find common ground.

That common ground exists. It exists here. It does not ask us to surrender our nationhood or our culture. It is the Charter of the United Nations -- a visionary document that has achieved much in its 50 years, and provides a format for our very survival. God grant that we will have the courage to build on it.

The President

I thank the President of the Federated States of Micronesia for his statement.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Glafcos Clerides, President of the Republic of Cyprus.

President Clerides (Cyprus)

As we are commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, I consider it my solemn obligation to pay tribute, on behalf of the people and the Government of Cyprus, to the founders of our Organization, whose vision and determination made its creation possible, and to encourage and congratulate all of us who take part in this Organization.

The world Organization, born out of the ashes of the Second World War, has, despite the vicissitudes of the cold war and the present turbulent world situation, achieved admirable results. The vital issues of decolonization, peace-keeping, human rights, democratization, development and the codification of international law have been addressed with considerable success. On the other hand, efforts towards global peace and security, the primary responsibility of the United Nations, have had varied results. The much hoped-for peace dividend from the demise of the cold war, has unfortunately eluded us, and numerous ethnic conflicts exert, as a result, their daily heavy toll on human life and produce material losses.

At the same time, some long-standing problems, including the problem of the invasion and occupation of part of the territory of my country by Turkey, have remained unresolved for years.

Such situations give rise to questions regarding the validity of the United Nations Charter and the effectiveness of the Organization.

The United Nations Charter, a great human achievement, embodying the wisdom and vision of the drafters to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, constitutes the legal and moral foundation for international relations, and is as valid and relevant today as ever.

What is really needed is to reduce the gap between principle and practice created by the failure to apply objectively and universally the provisions of the Charter, thus causing insecurity, frustration and bitterness. It is also essential to uphold the authority of the Organization against those who flout international opinion as expressed in United Nations resolutions.

We are now witnessing the ever growing and dramatic direct engagement of the United Nations in the complex maintenance of international peace and security in our ever changing, interdependent world. Because of these challenges and those that lie ahead, we must deal on a priority basis with the very important issues of revitalizing, both financially and otherwise, reforming and strengthening our Organization so that it may become a more potent instrument in the service of mankind, in whose name it was created.

The human genius that was enlisted in the cause of peace immediately after the Second World War is called upon to face new challenges in the cause of peace, development and cooperation between nations.

Perhaps no tribute to our Organization would be more fitting than to recommit ourselves to the everlasting principles and ideals of the United Nations Charter and join in determined efforts, now and in the years that lie ahead, to invigorate both our institutions and our own resolve for the promotion of the universal aspirations for peace, justice and cooperation between the countries and peoples of the world.

The Republic of Cyprus pledges its determination to make every effort so that the activities of the United Nations will be further expanded, its principles and values universally applied and its resolutions fully complied with. We pledge our resolve to defend the principles and ideals of the United Nations, the Organization whose fiftieth anniversary we so proudly and solemnly celebrate today.

The President

I thank the President of the Republic of Cyprus for his statement.

The President

The Assembly will next hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Armando Calderón Sol, President of the Republic of El Salvador.

President Calderón Sol (El Salvador)

Fifty years ago, the destruction and suffering caused by two world wars led us to reflect deeply and join together to create the United Nations, an Organization intended to maintain international peace and security and foster justice, dignity, human well-being, understanding and cooperation between nations.

The international order of the post-war period was marked by antagonism and ideological confrontation. None the less, the United Nations attained important and substantial achievements, outstanding among which were its significant contributions to avoiding another world war with unimaginable consequences, eliminating colonialism and racial discrimination, encouraging the codification of international law, strengthening the international system of human rights protection and promoting international cooperation for the improvement of the political, economic and social conditions of our peoples.

After so many years of tension and insecurity in the bipolar era, the world has become a substantially different place because of the deep-going transformations it has undergone. The cold war is over, the geopolitical map has been radically altered, a worldwide democratization process has emerged, cooperation has replaced confrontation and a globalization process has begun in the political, economic, social and environmental spheres.

In the light of today's international reality, we are convinced that the purposes and principles of the United Nations are uniquely valid. This is the only universal system that States can trust to study and implement measures for the attainment of common goals of humanity -- with the necessary understanding that Member States have the responsibility to provide this intergovernmental Organization with the means and resources needed to reach its objectives. In this regard, the United Nations must deepen the comprehensive modernization process that will enable it to rationalize the use of its resources, while becoming more efficient and transparent in the fulfilment of its functions.

The global agenda we have before us requires prompt and effective responses to the problems of drugs -- production, trafficking and consumption -- terrorism, money-laundering, organized crime, corruption and all the other scourges afflicting humanity today. At the successful conferences on human rights, environment, population, social development and women, organized by the United Nations, we reached very important worldwide commitments that should be properly followed up.

The eradication of poverty continues to be the main challenge facing the Members of the Organization, and we must not rest until we have broken the fateful cycle that condemns those born into poverty to die in poverty.

In order to put a duly modernized United Nations in the best position to respond effectively to the challenges it faces, it is essential that all Members have the political will to meet their financial obligations.

In connection with the reform process of the Organization, we are in favour of promoting opportunities for participation and increasing representativity. For their very survival, small States must usually be more creative, and that creativity could be put to better use if our right to more equitable participation in all the principal organs of the United Nations were respected. Similarly, the representativity of the Security Council should be augmented to reflect the new structure of the international community.

In commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Organization, we wish to reaffirm our confidence in the United Nations, especially because its cooperation enabled the Salvadoran people to achieve peace and end a fratricidal conflict that had lasted more than 10 years. The successful contribution of the United Nations to the reconciliation process in El Salvador has served to strengthen our commitment to the principles inspiring it.

We hope that the Declaration adopted at this Special Meeting will constitute an unescapable commitment by all Member States of the Organization to fulfil its purposes and principles and achieve its goals of lasting peace and a better world for future generations.

The President

I thank the President of the Republic of El Salvador for his statement.

The President

The Assembly will next hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro, President of the Republic of Cape Verde.

President Monteiro (Cape Verde)

First of all, Sir, I wish to tell you how pleased I am by your election to the presidency of the fiftieth session of the General Assembly and, at the same time, I wish to express my firm belief that your well-known personal qualities and extensive experience will guarantee that you will lead the work of our Organization in an effective and decisive manner.

Similarly, I wish to convey our sincere appreciation to your predecessor, a distinguished son of a fraternal country, Côte d'Ivoire, His Excellency Mr. Amara Essy, whose leadership of the forty-ninth session was a valuable asset in the performance of the United Nations.

To the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros-Boutros Ghali, I reiterate my warmest tribute for his devoted performance of his duties; he deserves the international community's appreciation and respect for this.

This Special Commemorative Meeting on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations is of undeniable importance and significance. This is no mere celebration. The representatives of our countries have a crucial task before them: to assess the course taken in the past half-century and, more important, to assess the future of our Organization. We are at the dawn of a new era, with new challenges and different demands.

We must make a new commitment to the future and, therefore, to the future of our Organization. We should, thus, reaffirm our unequivocal will to continue to fulfil the purposes and principles of the United Nations. Today, after 50 years, it is legitimate to conclude that the United Nations has been able to accomplish its mission. Hence, nobody would know how to define our present world without the United Nations, taking into account not only its role in promoting and facilitating the great, imperative changes, but also its specific action in the most diverse fields of human accomplishment, both individually and collectively.

As for peace, the United Nations has an effective capacity for conceptualization and action, but it needs to be improved. This cannot be delayed in view of the new situation that has occurred since the disappearance of the old East-West confrontation. The current reality requires firm leadership on the part of the United Nations to preserve peace and security in such a way that, in the context of observance of the values and rules of international law, all Member States, big and small, will focus their abilities and energy on the promotion of the well-being to which all peoples have a right.

Therefore, it is essential to underline that development is a vital issue for humanity and I strongly believe that no efforts will succeed without a framework in which peace is an overriding value. Peace and development are components of the same struggle -- a common struggle requiring, thus, the commitment of the international community as a whole, on the assumption that what is at stake is the future of humanity.

From the combat against desertification and drought to the protection of the global environment, from poverty eradication to the prevention and management of intra-and inter-State conflicts, from addressing demographic problems to the solution of related refugee and dislocated persons issues, from the perplexing condition of women to social development strategies, from international crime prevention to respect for and promotion of human rights: these are just a few examples of fields requiring the contribution of all those who truly believe in and wish for a better world.

In sum, this is a burden we should not transmit to future generations. We must commit ourselves to efficient, long-term strategies. Yet, in the present context of economic globalization, it is important to overcome the deficit in cooperation and coordination; this is so necessary to ensuring the viability and cohesiveness of international life. This is a priority in the objectives and goals of the United Nations.

Furthermore, our Organization must, above all, reflect the present world with its own dynamics and intrinsic balance. This is how the ongoing reform process should be addressed. Continuing consideration should be given to financial matters so that problems in this area do not impair our ability to act, in particular, in development.

Enhanced lucidity and courage should guide us in our endeavours to promote reform leading to equality of rights among States, as well as transparency and democratization of the United Nations, particularly in the Security Council.

We must overcome the gap between provisions in the United Nations Charter and the palpable reality that we experience internationally. We should not close our eyes or be satisfied with half-solutions; rather, we should be creative and daring. Let us seize this historic, changing momentum.

An organization cannot be and cannot do anything other than what its Member States want it to be or to do. This is, therefore, the only way the United Nations can continue to be, at the dawn of the third millennium, an indispensable tool of the international community, the tool that we celebrate today and we bequeath to coming generations.

The President

The Assembly will next hear an address by His Excellency The Honourable Bill Hayden, Governor-General of Australia.

Mr. Hayden (Australia)

As I stand here today before representatives of nearly every nation on earth, I am deeply conscious that the world is a very different place from the one which, 50 years ago, gave birth to the United Nations. As delegates in San Francisco in June 1945 prepared to sign the Charter of the United Nations, most of Europe and a great deal of Asia stood in ruins. Over 48 million people had died and the survivors of the greatest conflict in human history asked themselves what could be done to stop such a catastrophe from ever happening again.

Their answer was to create an organization which sought to enshrine the universal values of tolerance, social progress and respect for human dignity within international machinery; to ensure that all peoples and all nations, whether large or small, could be spared the scourge of war and provided the conditions for economic and social advancement.

The founders of the United Nations were not able to prevent war completely, either in their time or, regrettably, in ours. But the past 50 years have not seen global conflicts again and for that the United Nations can claim no small share. It has also been a time of unparalleled progress in a wide range of areas, some of which is immediately recognizable as the work of the United Nations but much of which has brought to the Organization only rare recognition.

The United Nations has played a crucial role in the pursuit of arms control, in developing the infrastructure for the global nuclear-safeguards system and in identifying and defining international human rights. The United Nations has done much to promote economic and social development, to work to improve the status of women, provide humanitarian and disaster relief, and tackle head-on -- with remarkable success -- world health problems. And, as one of its greatest achievements, the United Nations has played a central role in decolonization and in the exercise by hundreds of millions of people of the right of self-determination.

I recall with pride Australia's contribution to the founding of the United Nations, because of the central role played by Australia's then Foreign Minister, Mr. Herbert Vere Evatt. While Australia's primary goal for the United Nations in 1945 was the creation of a system in which conflicts between nations could be settled peacefully, in accordance with accepted international legal principles, Mr. Evatt argued, with great effect, that the political activity of the United Nations would not be enough by itself to prevent future conflicts and that the more fundamental causes of the world's problems would have to be tackled if international peace and stability were to be guaranteed.

The Government of Australia believes that, while the nature of the threats to global security and stability have changed dramatically since the Charter came into force 50 years ago, the Charter is as relevant today as it was in 1945 and that we need look no further than to a reaffirmation of its goals and objectives to guide the United Nations in the next millennium.

The challenge the United Nations faces now, and into the next century, is to reintegrate the functions of the Organization in the way the founders intended, to avoid the sterile and rigid division of peace and security issues, development issues and human-rights and justice issues. As Mr. Evatt and the other founders of the United Nations recognized, international peace and -- perhaps more appropriately in our day and age -- peace within States must be based on an inextricable linking of the concept of peace and security and the concept of development. If human needs for dignity and liberty are not met, all the material gain imaginable is unlikely to lead to sustainable peace. Peace without freedom, without dignity and without basic human rights is forlorn, barren and, at best, temporary.

Change and adaptation in the United Nations presents new challenges, which will require innovative solutions. The United Nations can only do what its Member States allow it to do, and a reintegrated, revitalized United Nations needs not only to lead new thinking on the part of its Member States but also to reflect new thinking. Any path forward must take account of that two-way process.

Moreover, we must not forget that if the United Nations is to work in the way we want it to, it must be provided with appropriate resources, and ultimately we must be prepared to pay for it. In the short term, this means that Member States must pay their assessed contributions in full and on time. Sadly, however, there are Member States that are in arrears not because they are unable to pay but because they are unwilling to do so. Beyond this, it is the Australian Government's view that if we are to address the longer-term problem of how to pay for the United Nations we must look seriously at the options that exist for supplementing Member States' contributions by external sources of finance. To overcome the present and likely continuing financial crisis of the United Nations, clear-sighted and innovative thinking is necessary in an examination of the entire issue of its funding.

The fiftieth anniversary should be a time to resolve what it is we can do for the United Nations -- not what we cannot do. We must act cooperatively, decisively and quickly to chart a way forward which will ensure that future generations inherit a world free from the threat of war and free from the curse of want and inequity -- a world which is a living reaffirmation of the fundamental and inalienable dignity and worth of humankind.

The President

I thank the Governor-General of Australia for his statement.

The President

The Assembly will next hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Ange-Félix Patassé, President of the Central African Republic.

President Patassé (Central African Republic)

I cannot contain my feelings on this exceptional occasion, when the nations of the world are assembled here to testify, equally with the many others who have spoken, to the long road that has been travelled since the signing of the Charter in San Francisco.

Today, on the occasion of the jubilee of our Organization, which is characterized by the density of its history and especially by its experiences, it is more than ever appropriate for the international community to draw the necessary lessons on which to base new hope, but especially, and above all, through which to fulfil the grand design of the Organization, in the interests of our peoples.

In the light of recent achievements, we pay tribute here to the perseverance of our elders, which led to the dismantling of apartheid and, especially, to a glimmer of hope of a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is our hope that the same will happen in respect of the various conflicts, latent or acknowledged, which cry out to the United Nations by revealing to the international community the barbarities and atrocities which, unfortunately, we are still witnessing on this the threshold of the twenty-first century.

This is why it is reasonable for us to think that the end of the cold war ought to herald the end of an epoch and the advent of a new world characterized by tolerance, humanism and solidarity so that there might be more justice and peace among peoples and nations.

Hence, it must be emphasized that it appears unfair to certain nations that an Organization which wishes to be universal and democratic excludes other nations from its decision-making bodies. This being the case, it is a matter of urgency that the Security Council be expanded and that the United Nations system be decentralized so that there can be a better response to the sensitivities of the peoples making up the Organization.

We pay tribute to the United Nations for its efforts to support all transition towards constitutional legality, and especially its unshakeable opposition to any desire to revert to dictatorship, whether civilian, military, semi-constitutional or autocratic.

We draw the international community's attention to the very special efforts that we should like to see made on Africa's behalf. Indeed, if there can be no sustainable development without democracy, neither can there be democracy without economic and social development. Africa is therefore resolutely committed to the path of democracy. Today more than ever, the international community must mobilize itself to promote a new international economic order that honours human dignity and supports Africa's efforts to overcome the obstacles it faces: institutional under-representation; a low participation in international trade; a weak capacity for investment because of the burden of domestic and external debt; and above all, the cost of establishing new institutions in States that have just successfully completed their transition to democracy.

That is why, in keeping with the statement I made here in 1994, I repeat my desire to see the establishment of a genuine Marshall Plan for the development of Africa in order to support the irreversible democratic conviction of our peoples.

To the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations, we repledge our firm support for his work and our sincere faith in the United Nations, guarantor of universal peace, security and global well-being. We wish to see greater determination to combat injustice and more democratic rigour to preserve the universal mission of our Organization, particularly in putting an end to the tensions between the two Chinas and the two Koreas.

Long live our common Organization and may the twenty-first century be more peaceful and more conducive to progress for all humanity.

The President

I thank the President of the Central African Republic for his statement.

The President

The Assembly will now hear a statement by His Excellency Mr. Mukar Cholponbayev, Chairman of the Legislative Chamber of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Mr. Cholponbayev (Kyrgyzstan)

It is a great honour for me to represent my country at this historic Meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Drawing lessons from the tragic mistakes of the past, the Organization was created so that we might join forces in providing mankind with the future it deserves.

As representatives of an ancient people but a young nation, and reflecting on our own history and the half-century of efforts to create a new code of international cooperation, we express today our profound gratitude to the founding fathers of the United Nations. Thanks to their efforts, the world community has been successful in interrupting the tragic cycle of world wars. Today our discussions cover not the problems of global war, but rather global development.

Although we hear criticisms of the United Nations from various directions, we are united in our commitment to its goals and principles. This shows that the United Nations is a living body and that it is needed by all of us. Let us then join our efforts to make it more effective and more responsive to the contemporary challenges facing mankind.

My country highly appreciates the efforts of the United Nations in providing support to countries that have only recently achieved independence. We see our future as linked to the mainstream of global development. We have chosen the path of democracy and radical economic reform. At the moment, preparations for presidential elections, in accordance with democratic principles, are under way in my country. This step underscores our faith in the ideals of freedom and democracy.

We are grateful to the General Assembly for its support for our celebration this year of the thousandth anniversary of our national epic Manas, which reflects the humanistic vision of our people in harmony with the ideals of the United Nations. In consideration of this support, the people and Government of my country are presenting the United Nations with a sculpture of our national hero, Manas. This gift will be presented to the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros-Ghali, as a symbol of our hopes for solidarity and brotherhood among the peoples of the world.

The world has changed radically in the past 50 years and we believe that it will follow the path of solidarity, mutual trust, tolerance and cooperation. In this connection, our Organization should be restructured to meet the challenges of the new post-cold-war era. We support the proposals made here concerning the membership of the Security Council, the main aim of which is to make this important body more effective. While paying tribute to the role of the nuclear and economically powerful countries in resolving problems of security and social and economic development, we are not in favour of turning it into a club for the rich and powerful. Moral force, alongside other considerations, should be imperative in the Council's work.

We sympathize with the feelings experienced by small countries in the world community. Here the key to the problem lies in reaffirming the principle of interdependence in the world. The large countries cannot enjoy material and spiritual prosperity until they recognize that they are part of the same world as smaller countries. This logical combination of realism and idealism is the basis for mutual understanding and accord in the future.

Yes, the United Nations today is far from ideal. The main reason why a world war has been avoided is the fear of nuclear catastrophe. But we have yet to grasp the catastrophe threatening humanity from persistent prejudice in our mutual relations, estrangement, and national selfishness. Today, in the final count, peace and prosperity alike are indivisible. There can be no expectation of a lasting universal peace while factors giving rise to hatred, intolerance and conflict persist. At the epicentre of many calamities lie such detonators as poverty, feelings of hurt national pride, and social and psychological tension. In this regard, we would like to see the United Nations as an international mechanism for preventing catastrophes rather than fighting their consequences. When raising the issue of global well-being one cannot ignore the overall aspect of regional cooperation: the problems of ecology, security and drug trafficking require the joint efforts of all interested parties. Our country is prepared to cooperate in these efforts with the United Nations and its Members.

The strength of the United Nations is in us -- its Members. The efficiency and authority of our Organization depend on our own will and trust, our political and financial support and skilled human resources. My country, as a new Member, is ready to bring to the next 50 years of the United Nations its peacefulness and good will, its energy and enthusiasm and its knowledge and experience. We believe in the United Nations.

The President

I thank the Chairman of the Legislative Chamber of the Kyrgyz Republic for his statement.

The President

The Assembly will next hear a statement by His Excellency Mr. Dahuku Péré, President of the National Assembly of the Togolese Republic.

Mr. Péré (Togo)

At this solemn time, when our community is paying tribute to the major figures who created the United Nations, the fiftieth anniversary of which we are celebrating, I would like, on behalf of the Head of State of Togo, His Excellency Gnassingbé Eyadema, to convey his greetings and express the joy and just pride that I feel, in speaking on behalf of Togo. The importance of this event, the fiftieth anniversary, deserves to be celebrated at the Special Commemorative Session.

In my country, this event has a very special character, for two reasons. First, as a former ward of the United Nations, Togo, to some extent, owes its accession to international sovereignty to the United Nations. In this respect, it is appropriate to commemorate this anniversary in a significant way, and this, subsequently, has justified the fact that I am participating in this ceremony on behalf of our Head of State.

The people of Togo and their President would like here to express their profound gratitude to the international community for the inestimable support they gave to Togo in its struggle to affirm its identity and personality in order to meet its destiny by becoming independent.

On this solemn occasion, my country renews its firm commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. This solemn meeting offers us an opportunity to think about the major problems facing the world. Coming as it does at the end of the cold war, this fiftieth anniversary gives Member States an opportunity to strengthen the friendship and solidarity among their peoples so that a new approach in relations can emerge, truly based on the independence and equality of States. Henceforth, these relations should develop as part of a dynamic partnership based essentially on independence.

A rapid survey of the activities of our Organization over the last 50 years shows that while it has allowed the world to escape a world war of a scope comparable to the last two wars, the effects of which traumatized humanity, our Organization has not fulfilled our hopes -- either in the area of peace-keeping or in the area of economic and social development. Indeed, despite the enormous means invested in safeguarding and restoring regional and international peace and security, this goal is far from being achieved. The world is witness to new armed conflicts the end of which cannot be foreseen. In the light of the lessons drawn from the experience of peace-keeping operations, it is important, in my country's view, to strengthen the capability of the United Nations in the area of preventive diplomacy and the peaceful settlement of disputes.

With respect to the reforms we are thinking about, we might more actively involve the General Assembly, which is fully representative of the international community when the modes of settlement prescribed by Chapter VI of the Charter are applied.

With regard to restructuring the Security Council, we must take into account the claims of a number of States which would like to have equitable representation in that body, so that its composition might reflect today's international realities, and so that the management of international peace and security would no longer fall within the competence only of the major Powers.

Economically speaking, we must deplore the fact that efforts to date have not made it possible to meet the challenges on the road to development and to improve the well-being of the populations in the South. It is a fact that the progress registered in the countries of the North and the stability of the world cannot be consolidated if the international community does not more firmly commit itself to the eradication of poverty, misery and illiteracy.

It is now a matter of correcting the inadmissible imbalances that characterize the economic relations between the developed and the developing countries, and thereby bring about justice and fairness.

Similarly, it is a matter of pressing urgency to reform the international financial and monetary system in order to improve the international economic environment, bearing in mind the deep aspirations of the majority of the peoples of the world.

The goals that our Organization has set for itself cannot be achieved without adequate economic support or without real solidarity between the rich and the poor countries. These things are interdependent and mutually reinforcing.

This constantly changing world is far from being the one that could provide the vital minimum that all humanity needs in order to survive. Our Organization is obliged to redouble its efforts to achieve the goals of justice and fairness. In order to do so, we must explore and exploit as best we can all the possibilities which agencies and institutions have -- be they subregional, regional or international -- in order to ensure peace on the one hand, and on the other hand to ensure economic relations solidly based on partnership.

After 50 years, we must be able to affirm that, thanks to the United Nations, the course of history has profoundly changed for humanity. This change will bring further happiness to humanity if the efforts made by the United Nations can be adapted to the new international context. That is the only way that we will be able to accomplish our noble missions.

People throughout the world, while lauding the scope of the work already done by the United Nations to bring about peace and solidarity among peoples, expect that it will meet their deepest aspirations better in the next 50 years than it has done in the last 50 years.

The President

I thank the President of the National Assembly of the Togolese Republic for his statement.

The President

The Assembly will next hear a statement by His Excellency The Honourable Owen Arthur, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs of Barbados.

Mr. Arthur (Barbados)

The adoption of the Charter, by consensus, at the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco in 1945, represents one of the great moments of history. Today we are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, which embodied the hopes and aspirations of a world devastated by war. The vision of global cooperation enshrined in the new world Organization blossomed and matured into an extensive network of institutions -- the United Nations system -- whose service to humanity has touched the daily lives of people in every corner of the world.

The United Nations has built a proud record of accomplishments. It has become our best hope for promoting global peace and security, even as it fashions a body of international law that enables global interdependence, cooperation and communications.

This Organization, particularly through its specialized agencies, has coordinated international efforts against disease, hunger and suffering. It has promoted democracy and economic and social justice, and, to this end, has provided a universal mechanism for charting international economic and social policy.

And within the process of decolonization, the United Nations has not only secured the dismantling of apartheid, but has also played a significant role in ensuring that more than 60 countries -- many of which, like Barbados, are small and vulnerable -- have achieved their independence.

Barbados salutes the leadership provided by the distinguished Secretaries-General and the dedicated staff who have served with distinction the noble mission of the United Nations.

These accomplishments must not blur the real difficulties or complexity of the tasks that have confronted, and continue to confront, this Organization. Many setbacks have occurred along the way. In moments of frustration and disappointment, we have even wondered, often aloud, if the United Nations has failed us, perhaps forgetting that our United Nations represents no more and no less than the collective will of our Governments, which it serves.

Looking ahead, the United Nations of the next 50 years must embark on its unfinished journey, reformed and re-energized, to meet the challenges of a world of tumultuous global change. Barbados reaffirms its commitment to the ideals of the Charter, which will guide us on this journey.

The reformed United Nations must construct a new system of security along the lines contained in "An Agenda for Peace", to reflect the changed nature of today's conflicts, conflicts mainly within nations rather than between nations. It must accelerate and intensify its development mission. In particular, it must respond with dispatch to the cry and suffering of the world's poor, whose plight weighs heavily on the conscience of the international community. It must implement the wide-ranging Programmes of Action created by the continuum of United Nations conferences, from Rio to Beijing; and, of special significance, the Bridgetown Declaration on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. Should it do so, we can contemplate a happier future, in which nations live in peace, diverse cultures flourish in harmony, and all people enjoy freedom and material well-being.

The United Nations remains a special place for small island developing States. Often buffeted by both natural and man-made disasters and by the economic dislocations of globalization, they look to the United Nations for protection and support. For Barbados, this United Nations -- even though less than perfect -- is still our greatest hope for peace, development and social justice.

The President

I thank the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs of Barbados for his statement.

The President

The Assembly will next hear a statement by His Excellency The Right Honourable Manuel Esquivel, Prime Minister of Belize.

Mr. Esquivel (Belize)

Fifty years ago world leaders gathered in San Francisco to declare their determination to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. Succeeding generations, including our own, have seen continuing progress in addressing the issues set out in that opening paragraph of the Preamble to our Charter. We applaud the successes, even as we must pledge to correct the failures.

We must recognize that the preoccupations of 1945 are not necessarily those of the present generation. The 50 original signatories to the Charter could not have foreseen that 50 years later this world Organization would consist of Member States with populations ranging from 1 billion to 16,000 people.

It is easy to understand that war and the peaceful settlement of disputes would have been the number one priority in 1945. I suggest that in 1995 priority number one is to be found not in the Preamble to the Charter, nor even in Article 1, but rather in Article 2, which states that this

"Organization is based on ... the sovereign equality of all its Members."

In 1945 Members probably regarded that statement as self-evident. Today, as the large and powerful sit side by side with the small and vulnerable, the principle of sovereign equality is a difficult pill for some and an elusive goal for others.

We must confess that equality presents this Organization with a vast amount of unfinished business. Although the provisions of the Charter refer to the equal rights of nations large and small, it is troubling that during these 50 years this Organization has not systematically constructed edifices to enshrine equality. Too often the word is used in a rhetorical manner. As we all know, there is a formal equality, which connotes non-discrimination or liberalized access, and there is substantive equality, which connotes tangible benefit. Even in the formal sense, equality among Member States has been generally treated as a distant aspiration. Even our elaborate resolutions for human rights too often provide shelter for discriminatory practices, even in the areas with which we have been most preoccupied, such as civil and political rights.

In the political realm, despite this Organization's success in destroying the ramparts of colonialism, I regret that the embers of formal inequality burn very bright in the composition of the Security Council, the most vital organ for peace and security. It is time that we amended the Charter to guarantee that we will hear the important voice of small Member States and of all geographic regions in both echelons of membership of the Council.

In the social field, the Organization has only just began systematically to address such issues as full employment, social integration and poverty, in the national and international context. Clearly, we need to recognize that formal equality must here play an important part.

We have been most active about enshrining formal equality for nations in matters of trade and economics. However, when we inquire why this is so, we must confess that this doctrine seeks not so much to benefit all the nations and peoples, large and small, as much as it happens to coincide with economic doctrines that are designed to serve the interests of the larger economies. It is for this reason that I must express my deep concern about the pressure being brought to bear on smaller nations to join in the rush towards the new economic orthodoxy of free trade. For small, largely agricultural economies to survive in a world of free trade, a level playing field is not the only prerequisite for fair competition. The sporting metaphor that is more appropriate is that of the horse race, in which the stronger and more experienced bear a heavier load to help equalize the potentials of the weaker and the less experienced.

In view of what I have just said, it is evident that the goal of substantive equality for both individuals and groups is very distant. It is even possible that there does not yet exist a clear consensus that, 50 years from the foundation of this Organization, all human beings, all States and all peoples are truly created equal. As a matter of fact, in some circles such a proposition might well still be considered heresy. After all, as we approach the twenty-first century, we are still unable generally to accept the proposition that poverty is a global problem that requires global solutions. In fact, many are unprepared to accept that human beings and nations are entitled to move steadily upward on economic, social, political and cultural trajectories which will provide genuine equality.

Many sectors of first-world society are still at a level of evolution where they cannot accept the minimal obligation that those societies should effectively transfer a nominal 0.7 per cent of gross national product for official development assistance. In fact, this year the developed world has allocated a mere 0.3 per cent of gross domestic product to development assistance, the lowest level since 1973. Legal scholars still fail to accept that there may be a binding legal obligation to provide development assistance or economic cooperation for the world's betterment. Many of the world's wealthiest nations fail to acknowledge a moral obligation to help the poorest, or even to recognize that their own continued wealth ultimately depends on the growth of the purchasing power of the 4.5 billion people living in the world's developing countries. Yet most of the systems of religion and ethics that are represented in this Hall today espouse credos which acknowledge or require a responsible social conscience. I share the Secretary-General's fear, expressed in "An Agenda for Development", that

"development as a common cause is in danger of fading from the forefront of our agenda". (A/48/935, para. 5)

Equality is the great unfinished business as much for this Organization as for all humanity. It is incumbent on us, at this time and in this place, to revitalize the commitment to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war by resolving promptly to complete this unfinished business. In that connection, let us recall the original intent of the creators of the Charter of the United Nations, expressed or implied even before the United Nations Charter, in the Atlantic Charter and other wartime documents, that freedom from fear and freedom from want are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. Let us therefore resolve to vitalize and generalize the slogan of the recent World Conference on Women: let there be equality, development and peace.

The President

I thank the Prime Minister of Belize for his statement.

The President

I now call on His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al-Nahayan, Deputy Prime Minister and Special Envoy of the Head of State of the United Arab Emirates.

Sheikh Al-Nahayan (United Arab Emirates)

It is an honour for me to convey to you the blessings and greetings of the President of the United Arab Emirates, His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahayan, and of the Government and the people of the United Arab Emirates on this important occasion marking the passage of 50 years since the foundation of the United Nations. The establishment of the United Nations was an important, historic turning-point in the lives of nations and peoples because of the Organization's active role in affirming the right to self-determination, the achievement of economic and social development and the maintenance of international peace and security.

Sheikh Al-Nahayan (United Arab Emirates)

Our participation in these celebrations clearly reflects our firm belief in the important and historic role of the United Nations in the establishment of a new era of international relations and in strengthening peace and security, especially in the Arab region, a region that has been ravaged, over the past few decades, by numerous wars and conflicts that have consumed its material and human energy and resources. The peoples and countries of the region expect the United Nations to perform a larger role in addressing the problems that resulted from those wars and conflicts and in finding radical solutions that would lead to the realization of the hopes and aspirations of the region's peoples after peace, justice, development and stability.

In this context, the Iranian occupation of our three islands poses a direct threat to the security of the region in general, and to that of the United Arab Emirates in particular.

On this important occasion when all countries shall renew their commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter and to the rules and norms of international law, we reaffirm our resolute political will to strengthen the role and increase the effectiveness of the Organization and its specialized agencies, in order for it to achieve the purposes for which it was established: namely, the creation of a world that would be free from war, repression, injustice and poverty. We reaffirm our position of principle against extremism, terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the illicit trafficking in drugs, and call for the liberalization of international trade in the interests of international cooperation.

It is our hope that these celebrations will be a step towards evaluating the lessons of the past, and a new departure towards a bright future in which all mankind would enjoy security, stability and development.

The Acting President

I thank the Deputy Prime Minister and Special Envoy of the Head of State of the United Arab Emirates for his statement.

The Acting President

I now call on His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General of Saudi Arabia.

Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Saudi Arabia)

It is with pleasure that I congratulate the President of the General Assembly on behalf of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd bin Abdulaziz, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on his election to the presidency of the current session, which coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations and, thereby, acquires special significance. His election is an expression of esteem for him and for his country. I also wish to commend the efforts of His Excellency the Secretary-General in the service of peace.

As I journeyed to New York to participate in this historic occasion, I reflected upon personal memories and general impressions. Fifty years ago the late King Faisal, then the Foreign Minister of my country, accompanied by King Fahd, embarked upon a similar journey to the United States with instructions from the late King Abdulaziz Al Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, to participate in the establishment of this Organization, which arose out of tragic events.

At the time, my country had just emerged from its own experience in establishing the foundations of peace and security over most of the Arabian Peninsula. After King Abdulaziz had succeeded in reunifying the Kingdom in accordance with the noble Islamic Shariah, which calls for justice, equality and brotherhood among people, he participated in the establishment of an international Organization which strives for the same principles on a universal level.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represents the heart of the Muslim world, from whose soil the Islamic faith emerged; a faith which places peace at the forefront of its virtuous principles and rejects violence and terrorism. As a result, King Fahd continues to spare no effort in enabling the Kingdom to discharge its mission towards peace.

The Kingdom has completed an ambitious development programme and has made positive contributions towards the creation of a better world. A good example is my country's well-balanced oil policy and its foreign aid programme, which has contributed a total of $70.6 billion over the past two decades to the benefit of 72 developing nations.

My country continues to believe in the importance of working towards realizing the objectives of this Organization. The resolutions which the Security Council adopted after the brutal Iraqi aggression against Kuwait had the most positive effect, and renewed confidence in the important role of the United Nations in supporting countries whose sovereignty is threatened. Kuwait was able to restore its right of existence and sovereignty.

I wish to note that the Kingdom attaches great importance to the safety and territorial integrity of Iraq. However, it holds the Iraqi regime responsible for the suffering of the Iraqi people and believes that the only way to alleviate this suffering is for the Iraqi regime to fully implement all Security Council resolutions, including the release of all prisoners of war.

International cooperation has had a positive impact in setting in motion the Middle East peace process, which was launched at the Madrid Conference. While the peace process has not yet achieved its ultimate goal, the opportunity still remains to move it forward, in particular on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks, provided there is adherence to its basis, namely, Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 425 (1978) relating to Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories, and Security Council resolution 252 (1968) regarding al-Quds al-Sharif which occupies a special place in the heart of every Muslim. In order for the desired peace to be based on trust, all weapons of mass destruction must be eliminated from the entire Middle East region.

The Serb aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina requires firmness in confronting it. The aggressor has refused to respond to all international pleas, while the Bosnians are denied the ability to acquire the means of defending themselves. The international response, under the leadership of the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), was an appropriate one, even if it was late in coming.

This tragedy highlights the need for the United Nations not to be a strictly humanitarian organization, but to resume its role of establishing peace on the basis of justice and equality. Our Organization should not merely manage conflicts, but prevent them. Delays in responding to events cause the United Nations to waste its resources on failures rather than successes, and on death rather than on life.

The capabilities the United Nations has demonstrated over the past 50 years and the constructive role it has played in mobilizing international cooperation make us determined to support it in discharging its mission, particularly today, as it finds itself at a crossroads which will determine its future. If the yardstick of the Organization's success lies in its effectiveness in serving the cause of international peace and security, we must underscore the importance of abiding by its Charter and enforcing the resolutions of international legality. It is the hope of The Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques that our celebration today will make a watershed in the history of our Organization that will make it possible for the United Nations to achieve its goals and make it possible for all peoples of the world to live in security and to achieve continued progress.

May God Almighty help us attain the objectives we strive for. As the Almighty reveals in the Holy Quran:

"Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancour". (Susa V., verse II)

The Acting President

I thank His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General of Saudi Arabia, for his statement.

The Acting President

I now call on His Highness Sheikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Thani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of Qatar.

Sheikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Thani (Qatar)

I should like to express our joy at this major celebration, the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations. This body is the source of all the hopes for a stable world of peace and well-being for mankind. Qatar hopes that this anniversary will provide us with the opportunity for new departures towards the establishment of a new world that would strengthen the trust of peoples in the norms of civilized living and that would see the achievement of people's expectations for economic and social development and human dignity.

We ardently hope to see the birth of a new United Nations, which can firmly and effectively face up to the challenges of wars, internal conflicts, ethnic intolerance and other hurdles which hold back mankind's progress. This can happen only if the Organization can do more than set up machinery to deal with conflicts after they erupt. Preventive measures should be taken to forestall such conflagrations through the development of societies, economically and socially and combating poverty, sickness and all the other causes of underdevelopment.

In order for the United Nations to achieve this, it must increase the effectiveness of its machineries: its councils, organs and specialized bodies, especially the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council. Membership of the Security Council should be expanded, the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process should be improved, the Organization's role in the economic and social fields should be reactivated and the shortcomings in the performance of its specialized agencies in these two areas should be rectified. This should be done in the interests of the Organization's goals which would lead to the prevalence of justice in the world and make it possible for all peoples to ensure for their future generations a future of peace, security and prosperity.

The question of the Middle East and the establishment of peace and justice in that region have been the focus of considerable efforts by the United Nations since its establishment. Today we can see some of the results of those laudable efforts.

The present peace process will, we hope, achieve the desired goal of finding a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement in the Middle East.

The State of Qatar, which appreciates the achievements of the United Nations, reaffirms its commitment to supporting this international Organization in order for it to achieve its noble goals and realize the aspirations of mankind. Given its belief in the mission of the United Nations and its awareness of the Organization's positive role in working for the emergence of a new world that would be founded on the purposes of the Charter and on commitment to its principles, especially those relating to the sovereignty of States, their territorial integrity and non-interference in their internal affairs as well as to the settlement of disputes, by peaceful means, the State of Qatar will continue, within the limits of the resources available to it, to contribute to supporting the United Nations activities so that it may achieve its goals and realize the hopes attached to it.

On this solemn occasion, we look forward to a new United Nations that would be capable of translating into concrete reality the goals it was established to achieve and that would, thereby, earn the confidence of all the world's peoples; a new United Nations that would contribute effectively to the making of a future of security and development for all men.

On behalf of the Emir, Government and people of the State of Qatar, we pay tribute to the United Nations on its fiftieth anniversary and call upon the representatives of the conscience of the world's peoples to support it, to abide by its decisions and to adhere to its principles so that it may become the true voice of all peoples that gives tongue to their true will and to their aspirations after a better future.

The Acting President

I thank the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of Qatar for his statement.

The Acting President

I now call on His Excellency The Honourable Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili, Deputy Prime Minister of Lesotho.

Mr. Mosisili (Lesotho)

We are gathered here to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations and to reaffirm the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and our commitment to them, particularly the principles of the sovereign equality of States, territorial integrity and non-interference in the domestic jurisdiction of States, the peaceful settlement of disputes and the avoidance of the threat or use of force in inter-State relations.

The end of the cold war raised hopes for a better world free of war, bloodshed, privation, famine and pestilence. We in Lesotho understand the bitter consequences of war and other war-like conflicts. Hence our unswerving commitment to peace. As the founder of our nation, King Moshoeshoe I, put it:

"Peace is like rain which makes the grass grow, While war is like the wind which dries it up."

Because the absence of rain is a constant menace to our survival as a nation, we consider rain as being on a par with peace. This explains our founding father's metaphor. We therefore call on all nations to renounce war and to ban all nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

As we celebrate this historic occasion, we cannot but rejoice in the accomplishments of the United Nations in bringing the nations of the world together. Internal and international conflicts are, however, not over and we need, therefore, to reflect on their causes. Most, if not all, are a result of socio-economic deprivation, political and religious intolerance, oppression, ethnic cleansing, foreign occupation, genocide, xenophobia and colonial domination. All these are inimical to the United Nations principles and purposes, and our common resolve, therefore, should be to work together to build a world devoid of them.

It is in this connection that Lesotho is proud of its modest contribution to one of the ideals of the United Nations, namely, tolerance among peoples. During the dark days of apartheid we shared our modest resources with refugees from neighbouring South Africa without making them feel that they were outsiders. We pay tribute to the United Nations not only for its role in hastening the demise of apartheid, but also for material assistance to the refugees. We continue to place great store in the United Nations programme in the field of human rights. As Lesotho has steadily proceeded to construct a democratic governance, it has adhered to instruments safeguarding fundamental freedoms and human rights, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The three pillars of the United Nations agenda in the next 50 years are peace, human rights and the betterment of humankind's economic and social condition. The Organization's capacity to satisfy our aspirations in those fields must be especially enhanced and its institutional reform accelerated.

In our view, such reform is critical in the three areas to which I have just referred. The Security Council needs to be enlarged so as to reflect current political realities, in which the countries of the South are a preponderant majority of the United Nations. The Council's decision-making, which has been monopolized by a handful of Member States for half a century, is no longer in consonance with the present-day drive for democracy within and among States.

Similarly, the organs dealing with social, environmental and economic matters, notably the Economic and Social Council,must be restructured to enable them to better deliver on the Organization's commitment to meeting the challenges facing the underprivileged members of our international community. Finally, the Secretariat must be equipped to respond effectively to the myriad problems needing the Secretary-General's attention. Topping the list of requirements, in this connection, is the provision of adequate financial and human resources to the Secretariat.

We ought to be proud that up to now we have, through collective action, warded off a calamity such as was the Second World War. It seems that a similar calamity may not recur. However, the economic, social and environmental future of the majority of humankind still remains bleak. Let us therefore rededicate ourselves once more to making the United Nations a veritable embodiment of humankind's hopes and aspirations for a better world for all.

The Acting President

I thank the Deputy Prime Minister of Lesotho for his statement.

The Acting President

I now call on His Excellency Mr. Omar Mustafa Muntasser, Secretary of the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

Mr. Muntasser (Libya)

In the course of the fifty years that have elapsed since its establishment, the United Nations has sought to strengthen the procedures that guarantee the security and safety of peoples, ensure their obtention of their rights, promote their development and accelerate their advancement. But the Organization's success in achieving these goals has been modest.

Even in the post-cold war era, which had given rise to many expectations, the record shows that developments in the international arena have shown that those expectations were too optimistic. The factors that impeded economic progress in many countries of the world have not been radically dealt with. Unemployment rates have continued to rise. Social disintegration has increased, the vertical development of nuclear weapons has continued and civil wars and regional conflicts have broken out in most regions in a manner that has given the impression that the globe we live on has suddenly exploded.

Failure by the United Nations is not due to any defect in its Charter. It is due to the absence of political will in the case of a number of major Powers that want for the Organization either to become impotent and incapable of performing its tasks by withholding the funds it needs, or to surrender to the pressures of those Powers and to execute their designs. Regrettably, those few States have succeeded in achieving their objectives. The General Assembly, which should be the highest authority in the United Nations system, has had its role marginalized in such a way that it has become a sort of wailing wall where the small and poor countries shed their tears, exchange their woes while nobody listens and nobody cares. Most powers have been concentrated in the Security Council which has turned into a sort of exclusive club whose activities are governed by selfish interests and where double standards are the order of the day. In its actions, the Council no longer observes the rule of law but has turned into a body governed by customary law. This has enabled a few of its members to impose their policies, get their designs adopted and use the Council as a tool to impose sanctions on countries, especially small ones, in an attempt at subjugating them. Worse still, the Security Council, which is the body entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, has become an instrument of aggression.

This situation is untenable and impossible to coexist with. It is therefore necessary to evaluate the actions of the Organization and to seek to enhance its role in promoting development, correcting the imbalance in the world economy with its many trade barriers and coercive measures, and guaranteeing the settlement of disputes between States by peaceful means, and not by the imposition of unjust sanctions. The United Nations capabilities should be strengthened in the areas of combating desertification, removing minefields, halting the deterioration of the environment, solving the host of problems that beset the world, such as poverty, hunger, drugs and organized crime, as well as epidemic and endemic diseases. The Organization should be enabled also to intensify efforts to eradicate the phenomenon of international terrorism in all its forms. Libya has sought and still seeks to combat terrorism and has called for the convening of a special session of the General Assembly for the study of the phenomenon of terrorism, including State terrorism. That is why it is unfair to accuse my country of terrorism as the American President did yesterday. The fact is that terrorism is, in essence, an American phenomenon. The United States has habitually used it against most peoples and States, including Libya, which has been the target of several American conspiracies aimed at overthrowing its revolutionary regime. When it failed to do so, the United States imposed on Libya its coercive measures and targeted it with many provocations by its Mediterranean fleets. American terrorism reached its peak when hundreds of American military aircraft, under the cover of darkness, raided and bombed Libya's cities, demolished houses, and left behind tens of innocent civilian casualties, including women and children. Lastly, the United States used the Security Council to impose unjust sanctions against Libya, under the pretext of a legal dispute already dealt with in the 1971 Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation. These sanctions have resulted in the death and injury of thousands of Libyan nationals in road accidents because of the intensive use of roads. In addition, the economic losses have exceeded tens of billions of dollars.

For these and other reasons, it has become essential to reform the United Nations so that it may carry out its tasks in accordance with the wishes of all its Member States and not as a sword that hangs over their necks, especially the necks of the small ones among them. This requires the independence of the Organization in preparing its agendas and in adopting its resolutions. In this context, the role of the General Assembly in the field of maintaining international peace and security must be enhanced especially when the posture of the Security Council becomes harmful to international peace. The powers of this General Assembly must be extended to include following up and monitoring other bodies specially the Security Council which should be held accountable to it: the General Assembly should look into the Council's resolutions to see to what extent they are consistent with the Charter and with the aims and purposes of the United Nations. Membership of the Security Council should be increased and should reflect an equitable geographic distribution. The Council's working methods should be improved to guarantee that it should not apply double standards in dealing with international issues. Also, participation in the decision-making processes of the Council should be expanded. The Council's tendency to follow the wishes of certain members in its interpretations of the Charter, especially Article 39 thereof, should be halted. The Council should perform in accordance with the wishes of all Member States. It is now high time to repeal the veto power because it is inconsistent with the principle of sovereign equality and has been used to prevent the condemnation of acts of aggression and punishment of the aggressor. The veto power has been used several times against the exercise of the right to self-determination by peoples that still languish under the yoke of colonialism. Above all this, it is no longer acceptable that such a privilege should be enjoyed by States which still colonize other countries and which seek to perpetuate their hegemony over the fate of the world and to monopolize the power of making international decisions.

This is our view of the march of the United Nations -- our assessment of its role and our vision of what it should be in order for it to be able to perform its tasks. We hope that this occasion will be a starting-point for an unshackled United Nations that would continue to be revitalized and committed to the service of all peoples and not just a few States that seek to use it as a means to achieve their own ends. These few should realize that the United Nations has not been freed from the shackles of the cold war to find itself shackled by the fetters of major Powers. Should these States insist on making the United Nations deviate from its goals, and on exploiting it in imposing their domination on small and poor countries, they should not forget that it is the small countries that have helped the United Nations increase its membership and attain universality. Those small countries are quite capable of establishing their own organization away from the domination and hegemony of a few major Powers.

Mr. Muntasser (Libya)

For people to reflect on, in Macbeth it says: "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death."

Mr. Muntasser (Libya)

I have conveyed the message to you all.

The Acting President

I thank the Secretary of the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for his statement.

The Acting President

I now call on His Excellency Mr. Destin Arsène Tsaty-Boungou, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Francophonie of the Congo.

Mr. Tsaty-Boungou (Congo)

As we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, allow me to add the Congo's voice to the unanimous tribute paid here to the illustrious founding fathers and the important work carried out by the United Nations in decolonization, the promotion of human rights and the codification of international law.

This fiftieth anniversary comes at a time when a black page in the history of mankind, the page of the cold war, has been turned. But the world continues to face other challenges. Indeed, the widespread desire to bring uniformity to international society in political and institutional terms, on the one hand, and economic and social terms, on the other, has led to an imbalance every bit as dramatic as the imbalance not so long ago when the world was bipolar.

East-West confrontation has been succeeded by another "cold war", even more injurious to the peoples of the South, especially those in Africa who daily fall prey to hunger, ignorance and disease.

Yet this fiftieth anniversary might have been an occasion to pay tribute to the progress accomplished by Africa in the past 50 years thanks to the solidarity of the international community. This fiftieth anniversary might also have been a time to rejoice that the countries that 50 years ago were poor and dominated, especially those on the African continent, now find themselves today among the prosperous nations of our planet, a natural position, given their boundless natural resources.

Unfortunately, on this fiftieth anniversary we are obliged to note that the same nations that were powerful 50 years ago are even more powerful today thanks to their command of science and technology. The expectations of the African peoples, who, like the other peoples of the planet, contributed to the liberation of mankind in the two major armed world confrontations that preceded the birth of the United Nations, have not been fulfilled by a fitting display of solidarity on the part of the international community.

Today, the end of the ideological war does offer prospects for African development thanks to the democratization of our countries' institutions. Yet for many African countries, the end of the single-party system that subjected their populations to so many misfortunes and conflicts has not created the conditions for a peaceful and prosperous life -- far from it. Longstanding and long-repressed political resentments have turned into civil and even ethnic wars, compromising any chance of creating the conditions favourable to investment and development.