General Assembly Session 54 meeting 13

The President

The Assembly will first hear an address by the President of the Republic of Guinea.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations the President of the Republic of Guinea, His Excellency Mr. Lansana Conté, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Conté (Guinea)

I should like to take this opportunity to congratulate you, Sir, on your well-deserved election to the presidency of the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly and to convey to you, on behalf of the people and Government of Guinea, my warmest congratulations. I am convinced that our Assembly stands to gain a great deal from your leadership and from your wealth of experience.

I would like also to pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Didier Opertti of Uruguay, for his commendable efforts to advance the process of the reform of our Organization.

Finally, allow me to convey my sincere congratulations and words of encouragement to Mr. Kofi Annan, who, since taking the helm of our Organization, has worked tirelessly to make of it a catalyst and a unique framework for nations to work together. We share that conviction and would like to assure him of our unflagging support in that respect.

The present-day world is characterized by a rapid evolution that has taken the form of profound political, economic and social changes. Those changes have had an impact on peace, international security and development.

The quest for peace and for a new and more equitable international order has become the major concern of our age. The United Nations cannot insulate itself from these changes. Its effectiveness will depend on its ability to re-adapt itself to today's realities.

The reform of the United Nations, the maintenance of international peace and security, disarmament, the fight against poverty and the strengthening of international cooperation -- all of these matters will require our attention and energy in the third millennium.

I am certain, therefore, that the Assembly will agree that the events taking place today clearly show the need to reform the United Nations.

All the arguments favour such a change as a means of strengthening the United Nations system and democratizing its main bodies, particular the Security Council, to make it into an authentic tool in the service peace and development for all. Our position on these issues is in accordance with that of the African Group as set forth at the thirty-fifth summit of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Algiers. The new make-up of the Security Council must fully reflect present-day realities through the equitable geographic representation of every region of the world.

The increasing number of conflicts is undermining the foundations of international peace and security and dangerously compromising the development efforts of our States. In this respect, I am sure the Assembly agrees that there can be no development without a consistent political commitment on the part of our States to peace and disarmament. That is why my delegation believes that any sign of indifference or silence on the part of the international community when confronted with the spectre of violence and the use of weapons of mass destruction can prove fatal for international peace and security.

As in the past, the Republic of Guinea can neither remain silent nor conceal its concern with regard to the increasing number of areas of tension and conflict throughout the world, particularly in Africa. Indeed, more than two thirds of the items currently on the agenda of the Security Council relate to critical situations in Africa. However, despite these difficult circumstances, our continent has courageously taken its destiny into its own hands by creating, under the auspices of the OAU, a Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution. With the assistance of the United Nations, this mechanism should be able to play a major role in maintaining peace on the continent.

Africa needs international cooperation if it is to make this instrument fully effective, given the breadth and complexity of the task that it must undertake. For some 10 years, West Africa has been particularly tested by the fratricidal wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau. They have had very serious consequences for those countries, which have become fields of desolation and whose reconstruction will require the assistance of the international community for a long time to come.

In this context, particular attention should be paid to the unfortunate young people in those countries. Tens of thousands of adolescents have been dragged into those wars, and now they are skilled only at fighting. It is essential to provide for and ensure their economic and social integration so as to prevent them from becoming easy prey to the warlords who are laying waste to the region.

The consequences of the conflicts and tensions in the neighbouring countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau have affected Guinea in many ways and significantly impeded the achievement of its development targets. My country has provided asylum to several hundred thousands of refugees, whose presence in our land has had a very serious impact on its economy, environment and security. The impact of the refugees and the burden they represent for the country in general, and for the host populations in particular, have been enormous, making Guinea one of the leading countries of asylum in the world, since the high proportion of refugees makes up more than one tenth of its population.

This situation has affected the ability of the Government to achieve its priority development objectives because of the tremendous unforeseen expenses that Guinea has had to bear and will continue to have to bear in order to restore peace, security and stability in the subregion, together with the other States members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Despite the support of the international community in the face of these crises and conflicts that are convulsing our continent, it is regrettable to note the discriminatory way in which Africa is treated in dealing with the refugee problem. We should like here to welcome the gratifying initiative of the United Nations to make the Republic of Guinea the focal point of stability in the subregion.

In this connection, a solidarity conference to strengthen Guinea's stability and efforts for sustainable development will soon be held in Brussels. My country, which has high expectations of that meeting, would like to appeal to all donors to increase their support for the efforts of the Government of Guinea to deal with the socio-economic consequences of the massive presence of refugees in our territory.

I should like to reiterate to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, the sincere gratitude of the people of Guinea for his recent visit to our country, and I am pleased to be able solemnly to pay tribute to his personal action to mobilize the international community for the benefit of Guinea.

The subregion of West Africa is not the only one that has suffered from war. We remain deeply concerned by the fratricidal struggles that are convulsing Central Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola; those conflicts continue to be at the forefront of the international political scene. While deploring the situation, which is a threat to the stability of our continent, I should like here to call on all the parties concerned to give a chance to the negotiation and mediation efforts under way in various places so that those crises can be overcome. I congratulate the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity and encourage them to pursue their initiatives and concrete actions aimed at restoring peace in those countries.

Today more than ever, the Middle East needs peace and security. Such a peace can be built only with mutual confidence and the desire to live together, with respect for the rights and the dignity of all the peoples of the region. That is why we welcome the recent developments in the Middle East, particularly in Israel. The hopes that have been raised should not be dashed.

In Yugoslavia, the advent of peace requires tolerance and respect for the territorial integrity and the right to coexistence of all the various parts of that nation. The establishment of a true State based on the rule of law is the only way of guaranteeing the reconstruction of the country, with the assistance of the international community.

Another subject of major concern to Africa is that of economic matters and international cooperation. Here we must acknowledge that efforts to date have not yielded the results we had hoped for in meeting the needs and aspirations of our peoples. An in-depth, comprehensive, proactive approach to development problems, as defined at the Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development, deserves the support and assistance of the international community. Unfortunately, one of the essential elements of such cooperation -- the North-South dialogue so eagerly sought by our countries -- remains at an impasse. All the while, disparities between the rich countries of the North and the underdeveloped countries of the South have grown. The arbitrary fixing of prices for commodities and manufactured goods by the North reduces to the point of futility the measures that have been proposed to alleviate the burden of external-debt servicing.

The system of trade too is based on discrimination. Under the banner of liberalization and free competition, globalization has had the effect of eroding or even eliminating preferences providing our commodities with access to the markets of the North. It is vital to establish timetables for adaptation and for the provision of alternative compensation so that our countries can maximize their potential as participants in world trade. Further, because of the importance of the fight against poverty in developing countries, we call upon donor countries to redouble their efforts to reach the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for official development assistance.

Turning to the crucial question of debt, it is now our firm conviction that no economic-recovery programme can have the hoped-for results without a favourable approach to the backlog of debt burdening African countries, particularly the most heavily indebted among them. While my delegation welcomes the recent decisions taken by the Group of Eight at Cologne, we are nonetheless concerned that efforts need to be made to produce a lasting resolution of the debt question. Debt continues to swallow up the bulk of the resources of poor countries, particularly those in Africa, whose earnings are diminishing daily in spite of the great sacrifices made by our peoples with the adoption of structural adjustment measures.

We therefore call for the convening of an international conference on the external debt of Africa with a view to finding a final solution to this problem; this would revitalize our ever more fragile economies. I wish in that connection to say that my country is now engaged in ongoing dialogue with the Paris Club of Industrial Country Creditors, the relevant Consultative Group, and the donor community with a view to significant rescheduling of our external debt.

Turning to the question of human rights and democracy, my Government believes that the eradication of poverty, social inequality and ignorance is a prerequisite for the promotion of human rights. Even though we are living through a difficult situation, my country remains deeply committed to democratic values and fundamental freedoms and has created all the necessary institutions for a State based on law; the proper functioning of these will contribute to our political stability.

We have been witness to the gradual emergence of a sense of hope, common destiny and a new partnership among nations. Such a world vision, however, should not to cloak our profound concern at a time when humanity is preparing to cross the threshold of the third millennium. The international community must do everything in its power to bring about the triumph of hope, even if threats to the very existence of the world persist. If it is to shoulder these responsibilities to the full, the international community has no choice but to help the United Nations adapt to the major changes under way in the world and must play its proper role in that world. More than ever before, mankind must understand that it bears responsibility for its own future.

In the name of human solidarity, the very fabric of international cooperation, I call upon all members of this great world family to make the United Nations a centre for harmonizing the efforts of the nations of the world, united in defence of our common destiny: a house in which all our wills converge resolutely, looking towards the future, and in which humanity can flourish and be united on the basis of freedom, justice, peace and prosperity. Long live the United Nations.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Guinea for his statement.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of the Gambia.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations the President of the Republic of the Gambia, His Excellency Colonel (Retired) Yahya Jammeh, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Jammeh (Gambia)

Let me first of all congratulate you, Mr. President, on your unanimous election to preside over the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly. Only a few years ago, the United Nations was actively involved in the decolonization of then South West Africa, now Namibia. Today, it is with a great sense of pride, therefore, that we see not only an old freedom fighter but also a consummate diplomat from Namibia presiding over the last session of the General Assembly of the second millennium and ushering in the beginning of the third. I have no doubt whatsoever that with your vast experience you will steer this historic session to a successful conclusion. You can rest assured of the full support and cooperation of the Gambian delegation in carrying out your important assignments.

May I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to the outgoing President, Mr. Didier Opertti of Uruguay, for the business like manner in which he conducted the fifty-third session, an eventful period indeed, characterized by far-reaching decisions in areas of common concern to the international community.

In the same vein, I would like to commend our Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for the exemplary way in which he has been handling the affairs of our Organization.

Today, the membership of our Organization stands at the impressive figure of 188. In this connection, I would like, on behalf of the Government and the people of the Gambia, and indeed on my own behalf, to congratulate the Republic of Nauru, the Republic of Kiribati and the Kingdom of Tonga on their admission to membership in the United Nations. We are confident that these new Member States will bring with them all the charm and wisdom of island nations to enrich the work of the United Nations.

All nations, big or small, have something to offer. This is particularly true of small States that have no spheres of influence to preserve, but the honest desire to participate in and contribute to the betterment of our world. Small States have the advantage of coming up with refreshing ideas and offering new perspectives in the search for solutions to problems of common concern.

Making this world a better place for the human race to live in is the collective responsibility of all of us. All States, big or small, should contribute to the collective endeavour to rid this world of wars, hunger, destitution, disease, suffering, homelessness, despair, terror, tyranny and economic backwardness.

Making this world a better place to live is not a far-fetched dream. It is a goal we can achieve if all nations, collectively as well as individually, sincerely commit themselves to working towards achieving this goal. Our very survival as the human race in the new millennium depends on the achievement of this noble objective.

How do we achieve this noble objective? First of all, we must commit ourselves to living and working for peace on earth. We must respect the sovereign rights of nations, big or small, rich or poor, to exist without fear of being marginalized, suppressed or intimidated by larger, richer or more populous nations. This is why, quite apart from the principle of universality, my Government sincerely believes that this body should seriously reconsider its position on the readmission of the Republic of China on Taiwan to the United Nations. With a population of almost 22 million and the nineteenth-largest economy in the world, and being the fifteenth-largest trading nation, the Republic of China -- a highly responsible member of the international community, a free and democratic country that has always promoted world trade and socio-economic development around the world and at the same time has contributed to the eradication of poverty -- has a lot to offer if readmitted to the United Nations. By allowing the 22 million people in Taiwan to be represented in the United Nations, we would be enforcing the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as contributing to the promotion of international peace and security.

Where this Assembly has recognized the then existence of two Germanies and the present existence of the two Koreas, the logic of the readmission of the Republic of China into this Assembly of nations is a matter of justice and equity. How can the United Nations sideline such an important country as if we were still living in the past?

For reasons that we all know too well, in 1971, the General Assembly adopted resolution 2758 (XXVI), by which it conferred membership upon the People's Republic of China. But the same resolution failed miserably to address the issue of representation in the United Nations for the people of the Republic of China on Taiwan. The cold war is over. The time has now come to correct this sad mistake, and there could not be a better time than now, when we are at the threshold of the twenty-first century, to recognize the Republic of China and, by extension, the voice of its 22 million people.

Having said that, I would now like to focus attention closer to home for a few minutes. Five years ago, when I led the Gambia National Army to take over the reigns of power in the Gambia, I was motivated by the sole desire to rescue my people from the abyss of despair and destruction after 30 years of rampant corruption and nepotism, to say the least. There was a general laissez-faire attitude that was rapidly assuming alarming proportions and that could have spelt disaster for the country had we not stepped in to put to an end the excesses of a rotten and morally bankrupt regime. It would be hard for anyone to imagine that a Government elected by the people would deprive its citizens of their basic needs for 30 long years. Not a single school, not a single hospital was built by that Government. That was why during the two-year transition to constitutional democratic rule, my Government immediately embarked on an intensive socio-economic development programme, building schools, hospitals, roads and bridges and carrying out other infrastructural development projects, such as building a new airport terminal and the extension of the port of Banjul.

It is now a thing of the past for any child to worry about trekking miles and miles to school. There are enough schools in all the administrative areas in the country, including high schools, for our children, especially the girls, to stay close to their homes and families. In this way we encourage parents to send their girls to school.

In addition to encouraging and increasing access to basic education for all Gambian children, my Government has identified a need to provide tertiary education and has established a university. The first batch of students will enrol in the University of The Gambia in October 1999.

Similarly, in the area of health, we have so far built two major hospitals, and a number of health centres around the country. Obviously we could not put right all the neglect of 30 years in just two years, but the difference is clear. Naturally the people of the Gambia wanted more progress. I was therefore persuaded by people across the country to resign from the army and run for office in a free and fair election under international supervision. I accepted the challenge, strengthened in my conviction that a direct mandate from the people would enable me to work harder for them. We have since been making greater strides in the uphill task of nation-building.

The very survival of the Gambia in this ever-changing world is an issue of major concern as we step into the next century, which will be fraught with many daunting challenges. The Gambia, like many other developing countries, has been forced to rethink its development agenda while looking for a more meaningful living environment for its people.

The desire of both Government and people for a developed nation is clearly expressed in the country's development blueprint, "Vision 2020, The Gambia Incorporated". Our macroeconomic policies and strategies continue to be spearheaded by Vision 2020, with an overall goal of achieving sustainable growth and eradicating poverty.

My Government is working very closely with the World Bank, the European Union, the United Nations Development Programme and all the specialized agencies of the United Nations system in their fields of competence in order to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and disease so that as a healthy nation founded on solid, democratic principles of good governance, we can stride ahead to build a nation with a strong economy in an atmosphere of social justice and political stability.

Recognizing that improving the governance environment is a sine qua non for sustainable development, the Government of the Gambia has incorporated good-governance strategies in all national development initiatives and plans. The Gambia National Governance Programme, which was recently launched, was developed through an extensive process of consultation and consensus-building.

In our bid to create an atmosphere of dignity and respect for our citizenry we are fully committed to democratic constitutionality. We consider this the only feasible political framework for good governance, which is an essential prerequisite for sustainable development. We also believe that democracy cannot exist in a situation of abject poverty. Our national governance programme includes provisions for constitutional review and reform of the electoral system and process; reform of parliamentary structures and processes; civic education; reform of the legal and judicial process; public-sector management and administrative reform; and decentralization and local government reform.

Given the complexity and scope of the governance policy framework, its effective implementation will require careful planning and mobilization of resources. A round-table conference, to be organized very soon, will seek to mobilize further support to cover part of the funding gap. It is our hope that our partners in development will continue to support us in this endeavour.

We are mindful that meaningful socio-economic development can be brought about and be sustained only in an atmosphere of stability and security -- not only in our own country, but also in its neighbouring countries. With the world becoming more globalized, lack of security and peace in any one part of the world affects the rest of mankind, especially those of us in the developing countries. We place a high premium on the maintenance of peace and stability both at home and abroad.

This is why, in our sister republic of Guinea-Bissau, we all worked hard, encouraged by the rest of the international community, to put a definitive end to the conflict there. In our efforts to achieve this objective, we, together with other West African countries, participated in the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) peacekeeping operations in Guinea-Bissau, even though the whole mission itself was short-lived. Now that peace and stability have been returned to that country, we encourage the international community to contribute to the country's reconciliation and reconstruction effort.

The Gambia, as coordinator of the work of the group of friends of Guinea-Bissau at the United Nations, will continue to play a leading role in this endeavour. In the same vein, in our continuing search for peace and stability in our subregion we in the Gambia have spearheaded efforts to mediate in the Casamance question through dialogue. As a result, in June of this year we gathered together in Banjul all the stakeholders in the Casamance issue with a view to providing a forum for the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) factions to articulate a common position for their impending dialogue with the Government of Senegal. This has been yielding positive results as it has already led to a cessation of hostilities in the Casamance region of Senegal. The cessation of hostilities, which is a consequence of the Banjul encounters, has been so encouraging that refugees have started to return home even before a final settlement is reached. At last we can see light at the end of the tunnel.

The momentum created by the Banjul meetings among the MFDC factions should be maintained. A final MFDC meeting will soon be convened and is expected to herald formal consultations between the Government of Senegal and the MFDC. These, we hope, will lead to a lasting settlement that will put an end to the devastation and its attendant human suffering.

Meanwhile, in our sister Republic of Sierra Leone, it is gratifying to note that a peace agreement has now been signed between the Government and the Revolutionary United Front after almost nine years of one of the most devastating, fratricidal and brutal wars of our time, a war characterized by outrageous atrocities committed by the rebels. We commend the efforts of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) leaders, ECOMOG, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sierra Leone and all those who contributed in one way or another to bringing about this peaceful resolution of the conflict.

The Lomé Peace Agreement is not the ideal peace agreement, but most peace agreements come with a price. The Sierra Leonean people paid dearly. We hope that, despite all the shortcomings of the Agreement, it will create hope and opportunity for the people of Sierra Leone and free them from terror, violence, killings, amputations and the many other atrocities that characterized this war.

The people of Sierra Leone have also welcomed this chance to make a fresh start. They should not be abandoned to fate. The international community has an obligation to come in rapidly, and in a big way, to help in the implementation of the Agreement.

It would be an understatement to say that Africa is making great strides in the peaceful resolution of conflicts there. A good example is the complex conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: we are encouraged by the signing of a Ceasefire Agreement in Lusaka. On behalf of the Government and people of the Gambia, I thank President Chiluba of Zambia and all other leaders in Africa who contributed to finding a political settlement to this complex conflict.

We note that the Security Council has deployed military liaison officers to the relevant States to lay the groundwork for the deployment of military observers. We appreciate this move by the United Nations. We must, however, sound a note of caution: the situation is extremely volatile. We must therefore move swiftly, before there is a relapse into fighting. We must not let this opportunity slip away.

Likewise, in the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict, we welcome the calm that has prevailed for a while. Most importantly, we welcome the agreement of the parties to the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Framework Agreement. We commend the leadership role of the OAU in its efforts to resolve this fratricidal conflict. We must, however, say that we are yet to see a ceasefire agreement. The parties must therefore be encouraged to translate their pronouncements into action by signing a ceasefire agreement immediately. We must emphasize that the United Nations should be ready to come in as soon as it is propitious to contribute to the implementation of the agreement.

After a long and difficult period of negotiations, some good news is coming out of Western Sahara. We note with appreciation that the identification process has progressed considerably. Plans for the repatriation of the refugees have also advanced. Finally, we are coming close to the referendum. We praise the Kingdom of Morocco for its flexibility, understanding, cooperation and courage throughout this period.

Elsewhere on the continent, the political landscape is still hazy.

In Angola, the peace process has broken down completely due to UNITA's intransigence and flat refusal to implement in good faith the Lusaka Protocol. It is very clear to all of us that there is no military solution to that conflict. After about 30 years of war, the people of Angola have suffered enormously, especially the women and children. The future of a whole generation has been compromised. We urge the international community to take decisive action to ensure a peaceful and speedy resolution of that conflict. To this end, we welcome the recent re-establishment of a United Nations presence in Angola. Such a presence is vital, but clearly it must be buttressed by a resolute commitment of the Security Council to producing the much-needed peace in Angola as soon as possible.

In the case of Somalia, it is a completely different scenario. The warlords are holding the international community hostage because of their own insatiable appetite to assume power at all costs. We note that the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is doing all it can to resolve this long and complex conflict, but without much success. If a resolution to this conflict is to be found, we should shake off the Somalia syndrome and re-engage the issue. The international community should recommit itself to the resolution of the Somali crisis by developing a strategy that would send clear signals to the warlords that their behaviour and attitude can no longer be tolerated by civilized society.

In the case of the Sudan, my delegation welcomes wholeheartedly the peace overtures of the Government. We believe that they are a first step in the right direction. We encourage the other side to respond, and to respond positively. The international community should also support the parties in finding a lasting solution.

This brief survey of the theatres of conflict in Africa reveals once again that our continent unfortunately continues to claim the lion's share of trials and tribulations. This is as embarrassing as it is unacceptable and we must redouble our efforts to reverse the situation.

Away from the African continent, there are other conflict situations that continue to pose serious threats to international peace and security and, therefore, are of serious concern to my delegation.

With regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict, my Government, whilst reiterating its full support for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the principle of land for peace, leading to an independent Palestinian homeland, also supports fully the Middle East peace process and the remarkable leadership role that the United States is playing to move the process forward. The solution to the problem lies both with Israel and in Palestine, as well as with the international community. This is why we believe that the implementation of the Wye River agreement, in letter and spirit, would usher in a new era of hope for the entire Middle East region.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, my delegation continues to follow very closely the consequences of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait -- in particular, the unresolved problems of the Kuwaiti prisoners of war, missing persons, the Kuwaiti archives and stolen property. There is nothing more painful than the mental torture that the families of the prisoners of war and missing persons have been going through all these years. To treat this matter lightly would be tantamount to adding insult to injury. We can imagine the pain, the anguish, the uncertainty and the endless nightmares of over 600 Kuwaiti families still hoping to hear from their loved ones. This is why my Government will never allow this aspect of the problem between Iraq and Kuwait to be swept under the carpet. It is a humanitarian problem that must not be politicized and must be given all the attention that it deserves.

In the same vein, the restitution of the Kuwaiti archives and other property is something that cannot be relegated to the category of secondary issues. Depriving a nation of its archives is like robbing it of its national identity.

As for the question of the disarmament of Iraq, we deplore the current stalemate. The status quo is unacceptable, yet the Security Council appears to be divided on how to move forward. The Council should show unity and remain steadfast; otherwise it would be sending the wrong signal: that any country can dictate the terms of its compliance with the wishes of the international community and get away with it. If that is allowed to happen, we would be setting a very dangerous precedent. Council members must make an effort to draw a line between their narrow national interests and the collective interests of humankind.

Just as we are unequivocal with regard to the disarmament of Iraq, we are equally uncompromising when it comes to the alleviation of the unwarranted suffering of the ordinary Iraqi people who, unfortunately, have to bear the brunt of any sanctions. The oil-for-food programme is a laudable effort to mitigate the impact of sanctions, but that is just about it. We want to see the removal, destruction or rendering harmless of all Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, but we do not subscribe to the destruction of Iraq under any pretext whatsoever. It is disheartening to see what sanctions have done to the innocent women, children and elderly people of Iraq. This, too, is unacceptable and was not the objective of the sanctions. A net distinction must henceforth be made between the regime and the people. As with all other existing and future sanctions, they must be clearly targeted at those responsible in order to avoid inflicting undue pain and suffering on innocent people.

Still on the thorny issue of sanctions, my Government is pleased that sanctions imposed on the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya have been suspended, but we cannot wait to see them lifted completely because Libya has fulfilled all its international obligations under the relevant Security Council resolutions. We call for the immediate and complete lifting of all the sanctions imposed on the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

Cuba, too, has been reeling under unjust sanctions for 38 years now. These sanctions should be scrapped because they are counterproductive and inhumane. We are of the opinion that the new millennium should usher in an era devoid of avoidable and man-made disasters and conflicts that wreak untold suffering on the innocent. Today, at the threshold of the new millennium, we should forgive and forget the past and reconcile in order to make this world a better place for mankind. We therefore reiterate our call for the immediate lifting of the economic and financial blockade imposed on Cuba.

Whilst it is important to uphold the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of States, when a State exceeds all bounds and engages in the heinous policy of ethnic cleansing, as in Kosovo, the rest of the international community cannot remain silent. The timely adoption of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999) marked a watershed in the history of the conflict, the full implementation of which, we hope, will bring lasting peace to Kosovo.

On the issue of East Timor, I would like to congratulate the East Timorese on the successful conduct of the historic ballot. Nothing would have been possible, though, without the courageous first step that was taken by the Indonesian Government leading to the 5 May Agreement, which in turn set the whole process in motion. However, we are greatly appalled at and shocked by the level of violence that ensued immediately after the verdict of the East Timorese people was made known to the international community. In this context, we welcome the deployment of the multinational force.

While we rejoice with the people of Kosovo and East Timor for the timely international efforts to restore peace, we cannot but express despair at the slow or sometimes lack of response to African conflicts. We insist that one life in Angola or elsewhere in Africa is no less important than one life in Kosovo or East Timor. The Security Council must therefore be evenhanded and establish principled criteria for humanitarian intervention.

In the wake of the many conflicts the world over, there should be a concerted international effort to address the issue of impunity. We share the philosophy that there can be no peace without justice, no justice without law and no meaningful law without a court to decide what is just and lawful under any given circumstances.

Because of this conviction, we support international efforts to establish an International Criminal Court (ICC) which would have jurisdiction over war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. We encourage all States to consider ratifying the Statute of the ICC. The Gambia has already signed the Statute and has since set the process in motion for its ratification.

There is a phenomenon, though, that constitutes a cause for greater concern to my delegation, and that is the recruitment and conscription of children as soldiers. This constitutes a total breakdown of our fundamental value systems. It must be stopped, as it is a blatant violation of international law and all norms of civilized behaviour.

The issue of the child soldier is a moral one, and it is the collective responsibility of the international community to fight against a situation where the leaders of tomorrow are exposed to a life of violence, vengeance and hate, a situation which breeds in their minds the dangerous notion that he who wields the gun demands and deserves respect. The plight of the children in the refugee camps does not augur well for a brighter future as they invariably grow up with vengeful hearts towards those they deem to be responsible for their plight. In a nutshell, an end to all conflicts is the only means to arrest this tragic trend.

Another social malaise of a deadlier threat to all societies, rich and poor alike, is the drug menace. This scourge threatens the very fabric of society and indeed the fixture of mankind, as it respects no national boundary. It is also a major cause of most crimes and violence in our urban centres, and it has grown to such proportions that it is beyond the capacity of any single State to eradicate it. Thus, we applaud the timely initiative of President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico for convening a special session devoted to the drug problem. This special session no doubt rekindled the interest that we all share in the fight against drugs. We all crave for a drug-free world. A daunting task though it may be, we must take up the challenge because the stakes are so high that we cannot afford to be complacent.

The issue of small arms and landmines is also a perennial problem which continues to fuel and exacerbate conflicts in Africa and elsewhere with devastating consequences. We oppose the proliferation of small arms and the laying of landmines and call for international partnership to address this concern. In this context, we urge arms manufacturing countries to exercise restraint in their transfer of arms to regions of conflict. In this context, we welcome the entry into force of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction.

Equally worrisome is the illicit trafficking in small arms and sensitive technologies. On the wider question of disarmament, whilst we recognize the efforts being made towards the achievement of a fissile material cut-off treaty and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, we continue to add our voice to the campaign for the total elimination of all nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, we look forward to the Preparatory Committee for the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Before closing the chapter on the review of the international political scene, I would like to thank all the people and organizations, as well as members of the international community, who have been working relentlessly to devise peaceful and negotiated solutions to the problems besetting mankind today. We, the younger generation, would want to live in a conflict-free and crisis-free world in the third millennium. We would want to bequeath to the next generation a world devoid of wars, poverty, hunger, racism and deprivation; a world where the whole of humankind would live like a single family; a world where meaningful socio-economic development would be the collective responsibility of all the world's citizens; a world where peace, love, mutual respect and collective security would be the order of the day.

It has since become an established fact that poverty is the root cause of many conflicts in the world, particularly in Africa.

It is gratifying to note that following the social summit a number of poverty eradication strategies have been elaborated, and it is our fervent hope that the special session of the General Assembly devoted to the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development and further initiatives will give fresh impetus to the campaign for the eradication of poverty. One effective way of eradicating poverty in Africa would be the total cancellation of all of the continent's external debts. The debt burden is the cause of untold suffering to the masses of Africa's women, children and the elderly.

Regarding the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative (HIPC), much as it could be characterized as laudable, it must be recognized that the eligibility criteria for accessing HIPC assistance are very restrictive and penalize those countries that really need assistance. For example, the Gambia, with a high debt service ratio of 33 per cent of the gross domestic product, although meeting the other two criteria -- first, establishing a track record of good performance and, secondly, eligibility under the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility and International Development Association-sponsored programmes -- has been excluded.

My delegation strongly appeals for an across-the-board cancellation of all Africa's debts so as to give us a new lease on life in the coming millennium.

Talk about poverty eradication would be incomplete without mention of the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa. I have no doubt whatsoever that if the resources required are made available to fund all the components of the Initiative within a reasonable time-frame, we could already claim victory in the battle against poverty. In this regard, we note with satisfaction, the Economic and Social Council meeting held in Geneva during the month of July and the attention given to the segment on the development of Africa.

All said and done, in this era of globalization and liberalization, our salvation lies in regional integration and cooperation if we are to achieve economies of scale and collective self-reliance. This is why we in the Gambia attach a lot of importance to Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as one of the building blocks of the African Economic Community. For us Africans, the Lagos Plan of Action and indeed the Final Act of Lagos constitute the blue print for the economic development of Africa. It is even more relevant today than ever before.

At the continental level, we the African leaders decided at the recently concluded OAU extraordinary summit in Sirte, Libya, to form a Union of African States which would put us in a better position to tackle the continent's economic and political crises that have plagued us throughout this century. However, I want to emphasize that the objective of this African continental union is not to form a military bloc, but an economic and political one capable of resolving Africa's numerous crises and conflicts, with the ultimate objective of eradicating poverty in Africa.

Today, as we speak, the gap between rich and poor has widened threefold. The 1999 Human Development Report has made stunning revelations, raised important issues and made a series of recommendations. The challenges are daunting, but with the necessary political will poverty can be eradicated, and, as stated in that report the challenge is "to ensure that globalization works for people -- not just for profits". In this endeavour, there should be greater cooperation between North and South.

I would like at this juncture to salute President Bill Clinton's bold initiative to visit the African continent, the second by a sitting American President in peacetime. This visit is very important as it gives the United States Administration first-hand knowledge of the numerous problems and challenges facing our continent. It also strengthens the historic bonds linking the United States and Africa. This is a positive development that should be nurtured, as the United States will continue to play a pivotal role in Africa's socio-economic development. The massive financial and economic assistance given to some African countries as a result of the visit could go a long way towards improving the living conditions of the people in those countries, as well as ensuring a bright future for the African continent as a whole.

Thus, I cannot but express my sincere appreciation and gratitude, on behalf of the youth of Africa, for this bold and laudable initiative taken by President Clinton, and I hope that it will be emulated by future United States Administrations.

It is our fervent hope, therefore, that as we approach the threshold of the new millennium, we will draw inspiration from the Charter of the United Nations by giving concrete expression to the pledge made therein "to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples".

We anxiously look forward to the Millennium Assembly, which, beyond its symbolism, could provide a unique opportunity to renew our commitment and rededicate our efforts to the attainment of this goal. It would be inexcusable if we were not strengthened in our resolve to eradicate poverty in the next millennium. With all the global conferences since the beginning of the decade on almost all issues of common concern, a solid foundation has thus been laid. All we have to do is build upon it.

It is against this background that we are poised to embrace the third millennium and all that it has in store for us. Caught between the spectre of nuclear holocaust and the overpowering and irrepressible phenomenon of globalization, our only hope for survival depends on how far we are committed to putting our collective security before our narrow, individual national interests. This in turn is only possible through multilateralism, and the latter has proved its worth through the United Nations.

Having learned numerous bitter lessons, including the fact of two world wars in this century, the compelling need to create the United Nations to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war is more valid now than ever before, taking into account the rapid advances in military technology and the devastating effects of modern weaponry. Our Organization has withstood the test of time, and as long as we continue individually and collectively to make every effort to uphold the lofty ideals enshrined in the Charter, we can together make this world a better place for all mankind.

The United Nations is certainly not irreproachable, but it is definitely irreplaceable and indispensable. It is the embodiment of our hopes and aspirations. This is why we are emboldened in our conviction that, despite some acerbic criticism, we envisage an even greater role for the United Nations in the twenty-first century. It was therefore very timely to adopt the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace shortly before the beginning of this session.

In this connection, it is important to carry out reforms when and where necessary to address the Organization's shortcomings. The organ that needs serious and urgent reform more than any other is the Security Council. The importance of this body cannot be over-emphasized, but its present composition, especially at the level of permanent membership, is unacceptable, to say the least. Its composition should reflect the realities of the day and must be democratic and transparent in its working methods.

To begin with, it is a fact that Africa, the second largest continent, is not represented at the permanent member level. This anomaly should be rectified immediately; then we can take it from there. Also not acceptable is the veto power wielded by the five permanent members, a practice that is diametrically opposed to the principles of democracy and human rights. I propose that the veto power be abolished during the course of the United Nations reform process.

As my country's term on the Security Council draws to an end, I would like to seize this opportunity on behalf of the Government and people of the Gambia, and indeed on my own behalf, to express our sincere gratitude to the entire membership of the United Nations for the confidence reposed in us to represent you. We also thank Members most sincerely for the partnership and cooperation, the advice and support, without which it would not have been possible to carry out the mandate entrusted to us. As a small country, our contribution might have been modest, but it was sincere, in our collective endeavour to make this world a better place for humankind. This noble goal, in my view, is what the United Nations stands for.

The President

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

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Guyana.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations the President of the Republic of Guyana, His Excellency Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Jagdeo (Guyana)

I am pleased to have this opportunity, the first since my assumption of the presidency of Guyana, to share with the Assembly some issues of interest and concern to the Group of 77, which Guyana now has the honour to chair.

A mere three months remain before mankind enters a new millennium filled with great hopes. Whether those hopes are realized will depend largely on the decisions we take, as an organization of united peoples, on how we collectively face the future. This fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly therefore represents a crucial turning point where we can follow either the high road to enlightened multilateralism or the low road leading to narrow self-interest.

I am confident that the Assembly will not fail to take the right direction. As the Foreign Minister of Namibia, Mr. President, you have given long and distinguished service to your country, which, after a bitter struggle against apartheid rule, stands as an independent and proud member of the family of nations. On behalf of the Group of 77, I salute Namibia and offer to you personally our warmest congratulations and good wishes for a successful Assembly.

To your predecessor, Mr. Didier Opertti of Uruguay, we offer our sincere appreciation for the guidance provided to the Assembly over the past year.

A warm welcome is also extended to the three new members of the United Nations -- the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga.

And to our Secretary-General I wish to convey our gratitude for his sustained stewardship of the Secretariat, and more particularly for his report on the Organization's work.

The challenges we must address this year are formidable. Our world continues to be plagued by a multiplicity of conflicts, both old and new, inter-State and intra-State, that have not only imperilled global peace and security but also sap our economic and social vitality. Whether in Afghanistan, Kosovo, the Middle East or the Great Lakes region of Africa -- to name just a few conflict zones -- a heavy toll is being exacted on human life and development. Equally disturbing is the apparent inability of the world community to contain this increase in tensions and conflicts.

The world Organization is continuously challenged by the outbreak of internecine strife in one country after another. Without a clear strategy, the United Nations can do no more than muddle through these crises in the hope that the warring factions will eventually see the virtues of peace. In these distressing circumstances, it is not only the parties to the conflict that are losers but also the international community. As a result of the increasing claims for peacemaking and peacekeeping operations, developing countries are deprived of much needed development resources and are politically weakened. Gradually the United Nations must move forward into the area of peace-building to obviate recidivism and to reconstruct shattered societies. By helping to strengthen democracy, government institutions and the rule of law, as well as rebuilding the foundations for long-term development, the Organization can help post-conflict States to rebuild themselves.

The time may have come to revisit the United Nations Agenda for Peace, as well as its Agenda for Development, to see where deficiencies lie and what could be done to remedy them.

The time has also come to strengthen the Security Council, the organ primarily responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security, so that it may become more democratic, representative and credible. Of course, the United Nations cannot do what the parties to conflict are not prepared to do. Without a true commitment to peace by all involved there can be scant prospect of any lasting settlement. As we have seen from recent developments in the Middle East, the parties involved must show a strong will to resolve the conflict through peaceful means. Only then can the United Nations, using the instruments provided by its Charter, serve to facilitate negotiations for a satisfactory outcome.

Accompanying these threats to international security and stability are strong economic and social forces which impact negatively on our countries. While globalization and trade liberalization have benefited strong economies, they have also exposed weaker States to marginalization from the world economy. By opening the floodgates of trade and finance, globalization has invariably wrought havoc on small and weak economies, which can do precious little to withstand its impact. Economic and social misery have followed in its wake, exposing the particular vulnerabilities of small developing countries, many of which are dependent on a single agricultural crop -- like bananas or sugar -- for the livelihood of their peoples.

At the regional meetings which have been held thus far in preparation for the tenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD X) caution has been sounded against the worst excesses of trade liberalization. Having benefited from the Tokyo and Uruguay Rounds, the industrialized countries are anxious to hold further negotiations -- the mother of all rounds -- for free trade in the next millennium. Theoretically, developing countries can also gain from increased liberalization. However, since they are for the most part too weak to take advantage of the new opportunities, they run the risk of greater marginalization and, indeed, elimination from the market place.

Fear of this eventuality is based not on uninformed speculation, but on the harsh reality of experience. Past negotiating rounds have yielded significant concessions to developed economies, while offering relatively little to developing countries in terms of opening up markets for their own products. At bottom, the problem is one of an imbalance in negotiating strength of its contracting parties, resulting in more favourable outcomes for the strongest. Yet the developing countries are being urged to enter into a new round of negotiations, the millennium round, the result of which is likely to be no different from that of the past unless its agenda is balanced by issues of concern to the developing countries.

To be able to enter the global marketplace, developing countries should be assisted in the strengthening of their productive capacities and in widening their access to export markets. They need to be assured of stabilization in the international financial and monetary system in order to avoid the hazards of currency fluctuations. Equally important, given the vast disparity which exists in the economic capacities of countries, special and differential treatment should be granted to developing countries in accordance with the principles outlined in part IV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the GATT legislative clause of 1971.

Special consideration will have to be given to Africa, the least developed countries and structurally weak economies, in particular the small island developing States, which are seriously disadvantaged in the area of trade. The special session to review the Programme of Action with regard to the sustainable development of small island developing States, which will be held here in just a matter of days, and the summit of the least developed countries scheduled for the year 2001 should serve to generate new initiatives to help these vulnerable States.

However, to benefit from the international trading system developing countries must receive significant debt relief and the necessary official development assistance to boost the overall productive capability. Consequently, in the face of rampant globalization, it is imperative that the international community should come together to create a modern development vision and strategy aimed at bridging the dangerous division which now separates the prosperous from the poor nations. This new approach should be based on an international consensus on development and on the rights and obligations of the partners.

As the preparations undertaken this year for the review of the summits held in Beijing, Cairo and Copenhagen have shown, there is an increasing number of people, the majority of them women and children, living under adverse conditions caused by poverty. Despite great strides in the fields of health and education in the developed world, many developing countries continue to be plagued by unequal and inadequate access to education and health care, high infant and maternal mortality, as well as lack of access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation. Indeed, low levels of health have inhibited the achievement of socially and economically productive lives, not to mention the devastating social and economic impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, as well as malaria, on a number of developing countries, particularly in Africa.

The Cologne initiative to expand the scope and provision of relief for the heavily indebted poor countries was a welcome step forward. Unfortunately, however, it does not go far enough to alleviate the debt burden which the developing countries still bear. Nothing short of the cancellation of some of these countries' debts will be sufficient to improve their circumstances to the point where they can be active participants in the world economy. The situation of many low-income countries has been made even more acute by the rapid decline of official development assistance in the wake of globalization's spread and over reliance on the market to promote development.

The financing of development must therefore be placed on a more sound and predictable basis. The Group of 77 therefore attaches the greatest importance to the holding of a high-level conference by the year 2001 to address this pressing issue. We believe that if Member States can address all aspects of the problem -- particularly those identified in the Secretary-General's report on financing for development -- we may yet find solutions that are acceptable and effective. Crucial to the successful outcome of the conference, however, is a general acceptance of a more enlightened approach to international development cooperation based on a genuine concept of interdependence and partnership.

Indeed, there is an acute need for a new global agenda with the objective of putting a human face on the marketplace. Policies aimed merely at creating unsustainable social safety nets are hardly lasting solutions. The root causes of the structural and endemic problems of the developing countries, which ultimately lead to global instability, must be addressed.

For their part, the developing countries which constitute the Group of 77 are committed to the search for ways and means by which we can accelerate the development process. Even before the conference on financing for development, we shall meet in Havana, Cuba, next year for the first ever South summit. The Summit is a long-cherished idea whose time has finally come. It will allow the South a special opportunity to examine the impact which globalization continues to have on developing countries, as well as the policies and strategies needed to harness the process and make it more amenable to control. In this context, North-South relations must be reviewed to see how they may be enhanced and put on a new basis for mutual trust and advantage.

Understandably, the central focus of the South Summit must be the strengthening of the unity and solidarity of the Group of 77 and the identification of concrete initiatives to promote practical cooperation between members. We have also agreed to devote our attention to the promulgation of knowledge and technology in order, hopefully, to achieve a quantum leap towards our development. This, after all, is an area in which the South can boast of remarkable advances and of many centres of excellence that can be utilized for the dissemination of skills and technology among the countries of the Group of 77. The North can, of course, do much to facilitate these exchanges by providing requisite financing and supplying appropriate technology and knowledge that would make the developing countries more self-reliant and at the same time more competitive in the world economy.

Coming, as it does, in the early months of the new millennium, the South summit will certainly provide an indication of the direction for the future. In Havana we hope to have in attendance our developed partners, which significantly, are usually present at all of our important deliberations as observers. Also expected to participate in the event are other key players in the development process, such as our non-governmental organizations and representatives of the private sector. Together, through an interactive dialogue, we hope to forge a programme of action which will serve as a catalyst for the development of our countries and our peoples. Indeed, if given the chance, the South summit, I dare say, will prove to be an inspiration for the Millennium Assembly and for a new compact on human development for the twenty-first century.

Speaking for Guyana, I wish to reaffirm our Government's intention to continue working for the creation of a new global human order aimed at the eradication of poverty and the establishment of a just and more humane system of international relations. Conceived by our late President Cheddi Jagan, whose entire life was dedicated to empowering the poor and the weak -- not only in his native Guyana, but throughout the world -- the outlines of this new order have been presented at major international forums, including the World Summit for Social Development, which was held in 1995 in Denmark. All 14 heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), along with other world leaders and eminent personalities, have declared their full support for the proposal and their commitment to its widest promulgation. We will therefore seek at this session to advance it for further consideration.

Although much is being made of the dawning of the millennium, it is obviously too much to expect that it will bring solutions to all of the world's problems. It can provide, however, an auspicious opportunity for the international community to reflect upon the past achievements, its present challenges and future aspirations. With a firm sense of purpose and resolve, let us use this occasion to create a brave new world in which all our peoples may hope to live in peace -- free from fear, poverty and want.

The President

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

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia.

The President

I have great pleasure in welcoming the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Janez Drnovsek, and inviting him to address the General Assembly.

Mr. Drnovsek (Slovenia)

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate you, Sir, and your country, Namibia, on your election as President of the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly. I am convinced that your experience and diplomatic skills will help this General Assembly to fulfil its important tasks. I would also like to thank the outgoing President, Mr. Didier Opertti of Uruguay, for the guidance he provided to the fifty-third session of the General Assembly.

Let me also take this opportunity to warmly welcome the Republic of Nauru, the Republic of Kiribati and the Kingdom of Tonga, which have just joined the United Nations family.

We are gathered here at the threshold not just of a new century but of a new millennium. It is appropriate, therefore, that we take advantage of this important occasion to reflect upon our situation in the world today. I speak here not of our situation as individuals or even as nations, but as a race.

There are many signs of progress, and there are reasons for hope. However, the ultimate goal of world peace still seems elusive. The number of conflicts is significantly increasing. All over the world, millions of civilians are the victims of well-planned and systematic policies of killing, displacement, property destruction and intimidation. At the end of last year, the number of people worldwide who had been evicted from their homes stood at more than 21 million.

East Timor and Kosovo are just two tragic examples of typical cases of contemporary armed conflicts. These are conflicts frequently take place within what the outside world recognizes as State borders, rather than between previously established States. Today, these types of wars amount to more than 90 per cent of those raging in the world.

To make matters even worse, the number of civilians killed in these nominally "internal" wars is sharply increasing. A new kind of warfare is developing in which civilians are a primary strategic target. "Ethnic cleansing", massacres and a horrifying variety of war crimes have become weapons for achieving political, economic and military goals. Ethnic, religious, national and social inequalities are frequently used as a smokescreen to hide the reality of massacre and conquest from the rest of the world. Furthermore, these inequalities are exploited by ruthless leaders, who use them as a tool to achieve very concrete aims. We have seen this phenomenon in almost all of the armed conflicts of recent times -- in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Afghanistan and, most recently, in East Timor.

How should the international community react to gross violations of human rights -- violations that amount to threats to international peace and security? When and how can the international community seek to establish that a sovereign Government cannot, or does not want to, prevent a humanitarian catastrophe? When and by what criteria does it decide to use its instruments of enforcement?

All United Nations Member States must think hard about these questions. We are grateful to the Secretary-General, who made, at the beginning of this debate, a significant contribution to such thinking.

This turn-of-the-century crime wave cries out for new approaches and new ways of protecting vulnerable civilian populations. Armed conflicts have in fact become a problem for humankind, not just for the nation or nations directly concerned.

The international community must innovate as it seeks to solve these pressing humanitarian problems. Our basic aim has to be human security, and here I mean physical and not just legal security. Slovenia welcomes and participates in the initiatives of like-minded countries which are determined to give full meaning and specific practical expression to the concept of human security. In addition, as one answer to these challenges, new and more sophisticated concepts of peacekeeping operations are being developed. New methods of conflict prevention should also be explored. Preventive diplomacy, preventive deployment, preventive disarmament and post-conflict peace-building are the orders of the day.

We have to ensure respect for human rights. We are firm in our belief that a determined commitment to promote and protect human rights has to be an underlying principle for the activities of the United Nations at the threshold of the new millennium. We have to create conditions for good governance, the rule of law, sustainable development and social justice. All of these tasks and many others require creative thinking and bold action. Solving these thorny problems is a prerequisite for peace and prosperity. This is also the way to prevent conditions which directly feed the flames of the conflicts that I have described.

As an elected member of the Security Council, we are contributing to the maintenance of world peace and security. We are cooperating actively in the resolution of crises in South-Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. We believe that special importance should be attached to preventive action in situations posing a potential threat to international peace but which have not yet developed into armed conflict. Where situations have already escalated into armed conflict, no effort should be spared in finding a peaceful and timely resolution. We recognize the recent Security Council mission to Jakarta and Dili, in which Slovenia took part, as an innovative approach by the United Nations in dealing with crisis situations. Clearly, we welcome this.

Finally, in post-conflict situations, such as Kosovo, continued coordinated action by the international community is necessary. It is only by working in concert that the United Nations, regional organizations and other international players can be effective. Only in this way can the difficult goals that have been set be achieved. These goals include bringing political and economic stabilization, democratization, the protection of human rights to the territory in question and establishing a functional legal system there.

The changing nature of armed conflicts is also changing the role of the Security Council as it discharges its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. We note the increased readiness and determination of regional organizations to take on their share of responsibility for the maintenance of regional peace and security. As many examples of fruitful collaboration attest, relations between the Security Council and these regional organizations are relations not of competition but rather of cooperation. We therefore commend the increased role of regional organizations under Chapter VIII of the Charter.

Let me continue by presenting some elements that we must consider in any international response to the changing nature of armed conflicts. There is an unacceptably wide -- even a growing -- gap between the existing norms of international humanitarian and human rights law and common situations on the ground: human rights are frequently and openly violated. Determined and united action by the international community is needed to ensure that the existing norms of human rights are fully observed.

Those who commit war crimes and crimes against humanity must be brought to justice. This is primarily the responsibility of States, which must act both individually through their national systems of justice, and collectively through an effective international justice system. Failure to act is no more and no less than an invitation to those capable of creating new, even more serious cycles of human tragedy to do just that.

Whether there is to be human progress and development depends on the result of this confrontation between the rule of international law and those who stand to benefit directly from lawlessness. International indifference can only reward such people. In this regard, Slovenia attaches particular importance to the need to ensure more effective, comprehensive and efficient delivery of international justice. We are supportive of the two existing United Nations International Criminal Tribunals and of the ongoing process designed to give birth to a permanent International Criminal Court. To this end we have begun the legislative procedures necessary to ratify the Rome Statute. We are also contributing to efforts to complete the mandate of the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court.

Peacekeeping operations have in recent years become increasingly multidimensional: they encompass not only demanding military tasks but also a variety of other functions, such as civilian police activities, support for humanitarian assistance, practical disarmament measures, demobilization and integration of former combatants, and enhancing and monitoring human rights.

I should like to avail myself of this important occasion to affirm that Slovenia considers peacekeeping to be one of the key instruments available to the United Nations in discharging its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. We have increased our participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations -- and are committed to further increasing our participation in the near future -- not only in terms of military personnel but also of civilian police and humanitarian aid workers.

Disarmament efforts are a vital ingredient in the maintenance of international peace and security. The achievements of past years have been considerable, especially in such areas as chemical weapons and the comprehensive ban on nuclear weapon testing. However, there is a need to strengthen disarmament work, in the area not only of weapons of mass destruction but also in reducing flows of conventional arms. We hope that the Conference on Disarmament will be strengthened as an effective disarmament negotiation body. We also hope that the forthcoming Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will represent a decisive step in the strengthening of the non-proliferation regime, and that progress will be made towards the objective of nuclear disarmament.

I strongly believe that States Members of the United Nations and the international community as a whole must continue efforts to strengthen the prohibition of land mines, which is one specific front in protecting the physical security to which I referred. Last year our Government established an International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victim Assistance in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our aim is to help Bosnia and Herzegovina and other mine-affected countries in the region get rid of those lethal, hidden weapons, and to help those who have been wounded by them. In only the first year of its existence, the International Trust Fund has achieved many positive results in Bosnia; it is now extending its activities to Kosovo.

There are many ways in which United Nations Member States can contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security. I would like to point out that Slovenia has joined a number of other nations in committing itself to tackling the security challenges of South-Eastern Europe. In establishing the Stability Pact, the international community has formed a framework intended to enable the concerted and sustained action necessary to stabilize the region. If it lives up to its early promise -- and we intend to work hard to make sure that it does -- the Stability Pact could be the key factor in bringing lasting peace, economic recovery and development to a very troubled neighbourhood. That such a wide range of States and international organizations -- not least the United Nations -- have committed themselves to helping in this very ambitious task gives us grounds for hope.

In conclusion, I would like to return to the question with which I started: at the end of the millennium, how does the human race stand? Are there grounds for hope? Do we have the institutions and strategies needed to deal with our problems? If not, can we modify and redesign them? Even in the face of tragic conflicts, I believe that the answer to these questions must be "yes".

The Acting President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I thank the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia for the statement he has just made.

The Acting President

I call now on the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Papua New Guinea, His Excellency The Honourable Sir Michael Somare.

Sir Michael Somare (Papua New Guinea)

On behalf of the people and the Government of Papua New Guinea, I wish to join previous speakers in congratulating His Excellency Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly. His unanimous election shows the esteem in which the international community holds him personally, and his country, Namibia. The Papua New Guinea delegation is confident that he will guide the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly to a successful conclusion. My congratulations go also to the other Assembly officers.

May I also take this opportunity to express my delegation's sincere appreciation to his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Didier Opertti, for his outstanding stewardship in facilitating the work of the fifty-third session.

We would also like to place on record our appreciation to the Secretary-General for his diplomatic skill and for the leadership he has provided on major issues of international concern. I must also congratulate the Secretariat staff for the tremendous work they put into the discharge of their functions and duties, at times under very difficult and dangerous circumstances.

Like others who have spoken before me, I too congratulate on behalf of the people and the Government of Papua New Guinea the three new Member States, all from the South Pacific Forum region -- the Republic of Nauru, the Republic of Kiribati and the Kingdom of Tonga -- and welcome them into the United Nations family. I would also like to pay tribute to all Member States which made their admission possible. This is an Organization in which smallness in terms of population or size should not be a handicap. I am confident that the work of the United Nations will only be enhanced through the sharing of the particular experiences and knowledge that these three new Members will bring.

It has only been a little over two months since the new Government, of which I am a part, was elected to office in my country. But this time has been hectic and very challenging. The Government has been confronted with problems inherited from previous Governments over the last 23 years of our independence and especially over the last two years. These have been compounded by other problems associated with the recent downturn in the global economy, with the economic crisis in the Asia-Pacific region and with natural disasters, all of which we have little control over.

This experience, together with my country's location and its close relations with other countries in the region, defines my Government's foreign policy focus on partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region. This point has been brought home by a series of natural disasters which have affected Papua New Guinea over the last 10 years. There have been 30 of them in that decade. The droughts, floods, bush fires, cyclones, frosts, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis and landslides have shown that peoples and States throughout the world have to be partners in dealing with the causes and consequences of such disasters, and must manifest preparedness to take responsive and remedial measures. There must be a global partnership in developing appropriate mechanisms for disaster prevention and disaster reduction.

When my Government came into office on 14 July this year, it had five main priorities. These are: restoring integrity to the institutions of the State; stabilizing the exchange rate of our currency, the kina, and containing inflation and reestablishing constructive dialogue with Papua New Guinea's development partners; restoring stability to the national budget, focusing on fewer and more important priority areas and advancing the privatization of some of our public institutions for a fair run; creating better conditions for the private sector by removing barriers to investment growth; and continuing the Bougainville peace process.

My Government has addressed these challenges, including a comprehensive programme of structural adjustment through the mini-budget recently adopted by Parliament. In doing so, we are working hard to make sure that a strong and efficient private sector can contribute to public welfare and national development. By the same token we are also reviewing the size and effectiveness of the public sector to make it more responsive to the desires and aspirations of our people. The results, together with other measures we have adopted, will, we hope, stabilize the economy, thereby stimulating economic growth. The signs are very encouraging.

I know that as a small open economy, my country's development is directly influenced by global factors, including world market prices for our products. Currently, my country is suffering from the economic crisis experienced by our major trading partners in Asia, and we are forced to undertake significant reform programmes to protect our economy and our people. In this regard, we turn to international financial institutions to help us restructure our economy. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank have been very positive in their responses to our policies, especially my Government's recent mini-budget last month.

I held bilateral discussions with friends such as Australia, China, Japan and New Zealand two weeks ago during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Council ministerial meeting in Auckland, New Zealand. They indicated their support for the current structural adjustment programmes my Government has introduced. For Papua New Guinea to realize and sustain its current reform programmes, it has to secure external financial support.

I see my Government's foreign policy of partnership in the Asia-Pacific region as a building block for the global partnership on which the future of my people depends. There is really no other alternative.

On peacemaking and peacekeeping, the Bougainville conflict involves substantial commitments of personnel and funds by the Government of Papua New Guinea, by neighbouring countries and by the United Nations. My Government acknowledges and is deeply grateful for the constructive role played by Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu as well as by the United Nations Development Programme and a number of non-governmental organizations including churches and the Red Cross. We are also grateful that the Security Council found it possible to answer our request to send an observer mission to ensure that the parties involved in the peace process continue to honour the Lincoln Agreement. We note the reference to Bougainville in the Secretary-General's report on the work of the Organization.

As peace continues to be consolidated on the ground, so the role and size of the neutral regional Peace Monitoring Group can be expected to change. Re-establishment of police, courts and correctional services will provide important supports and benchmarks for progress towards lasting peace on the island. In the event that the Bougainville parties are unable to resolve the constitutional arrangements before the end of this year, we hope that at the appropriate time the Security Council will agree to an extension of the mandate of the United Nations mission on Bougainville.

I pay tribute to all United Nations Member States, and especially to those current and immediate past members of the Security Council, for responding positively and for their continued support for a peaceful resolution of our Bougainville crisis.

Consistent with our commitment to peaceful dialogue between nations, Papua New Guinea condemns those who employ terrorism against innocent people and who finance, recruit, train and deploy terrorists and mercenaries.

In 1975, when I addressed this forum from this podium at the time of our admission to the United Nations, I committed Papua New Guinea to the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter. Now, some 24 years later, we recognize that like any other institution, the United Nations has limitations. We believe that after 50 years the time is right to review the Charter, taking into account today's realities.

The Charter should be a document that puts the people of the world on centre stage, and at the same time it must recognize that the Governments are here to represent them as well as to serve them. In this respect, there cannot be any distinction as to colour, creed, race, sex or religious persuasion.

My delegation welcomes the Secretary-General's current and ongoing reform programme. As a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, my delegation reaffirms the position that the Security Council should be reformed and expanded in both categories, taking into account today's realities. My delegation believes the numbers in the Council should reflect the increased United Nations membership, and therefore I concur with the majority of Member States who have advocated a Security Council of the new millennium consisting of 26 or more members.

Papua New Guinea believes that all permanent members of the Security Council, including new permanent members, should have similar privileges and rights. The use of the veto power should be done away with, or curtailed and applied only to Chapter VII issues. The working methods of the Council should be more transparent.

The reforms of the Organization would not be complete without the reconfiguration of the regional groupings within the United Nations structure. My Government believes that an effective Security Council should be composed of a representative from each subregion of the world. In this regard, due consideration should be given to current realities, especially to the geographical location of each Member State. For example, in the reformulation Australia and New Zealand should be considered as part of the South Pacific subregion of the Asian group. The reforms in the Security Council should therefore take account of this change.

Changing the world, through decolonization, from a system of relations between imperial powers and the colonized to a partnership between sovereign States is among the United Nations greatest achievements. The process, however, will not be complete until the remaining 17 non-self-governing territories have exercised their inalienable right to self-determination and/or achieved self-government and, where appropriate, independence. Neither small size nor remoteness should be allowed to qualify or limit this inalienable right.

On the regional front, Papua New Guinea is pleased to note the progress made in implementing the Matignon Accords, culminating in the recent agreement contained in the Noumea Accord, which confirms the way forward for the exercise of the right of self-determination by the people of New Caledonia, especially the indigenous Kanak people. The Noumea Accord will, we believe, provide a sound basis for the future fulfilment of all legitimate political aspirations. We urge all parties to honour both its letter and spirit.

We acknowledge that the United Nations Decade for Decolonization will come to an end next year. We urge the administering Powers and the members of the Special Committee to work together to develop a new programme of action for the year 2000 and beyond.

On East Timor, my Government welcomed the agreement between the Republic of Indonesia, the Portuguese Republic and the United Nations on 5 May 1999, which enabled the United Nations to organize the ballot on 30 August. The overwhelming 98.6 per cent turnout at the ballot and the 78.2 per cent vote in favour of independence are very clear.

My Government calls on all parties to respect the results of the United Nations-supervised ballot and the wishes of the East Timorese people. Although since the ballot there have been deaths, massive destruction of property and the undemocratic and forced displacement of people by the militias and certain members of the Indonesian military who did not accept the results, we are pleased that this has changed after the recent announcement by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, B. J. Habibie, reaffirmed by Foreign Minister Alatas yesterday. Democracy is all about the will of the majority. It is not about unanimity, nor is it about enforced application of rules by a minority.

We are also pleased that the Government of Indonesia was able to recognise its obligations -- not only as a party to the 5 May Agreement, but also as a Member of the United Nations -- to permit the deployment of a Security Council-sanctioned multinational peacekeeping force in East Timor.

At the same time, however, it is our fervent hope that in the interests of the long-term security and stability of the region, the leaders and the people of East Timor will also make peace with their neighbours. It is important for them to acknowledge the fact that it was the Government of Indonesia that made it possible for the people to exercise their right to self-determination.

We are firmly committed to the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, including issues of climate change and the consequent effects of rising sea levels. We strongly urge its full implementation. My Government will continue to follow and support the future work on these issues, including the special session of the General Assembly on small island developing States to be held on 27 and 28 September 1999. The world's leading scientists have concluded that the rise in global temperatures poses serious threats, including sea-level rise and an increase in natural catastrophes such as the El Niño and La Niña phenomena.

The greatest challenge for the United Nations is to strengthen the global community's capacity to respond promptly and effectively to natural disasters. The devastation caused by the recent earthquakes in Taiwan and Turkey and by the floods in the United States and in the Bahamas resulting from hurricane Floyd makes it all the more imperative for the international community to take positive action.

On the question of the management of the oceans and seas, Papua New Guinea joins others in calling on Member States at this session of the General Assembly to work together on a resolution to establish a consultative process to improve coordination and management of the programmes for the protection of the oceans and seas. At this Assembly session we should formalize this process.

We are concerned that at the recent meeting of the Council of the International Seabed Authority in Jamaica, a number of States appeared to be more preoccupied with reducing our potential to prosper from prospecting, exploring and exploiting the deep seabed. The debate in Jamaica clearly reflected that the States with stringent environmental guidelines no longer endorse the principle of a global commons. They now find themselves caught up in a conflict of interest in which their role as guardians of the global commons is now being overshadowed by their desire to grab the benefits for themselves, with little or no sense of obligation to the world community at large.

We have also noted a tendency by countries that have co-sponsored pioneer investors in deep-sea mining to try to avoid their international obligations towards the environment. We are particularly concerned that they have placed the interests of investors above the interests of the global community. We make particular mention of the trend to withhold information from the International Seabed Authority under the guise of "confidentiality", "proprietary interests", and "information of a scientifically sensitive nature": these are merely codes for denying global communities access to information that might allow them to prepare better for disaster prevention and other actions needed to protect the environment.

Regarding nuclear issues, Papua New Guinea, consistent with our shared commitment to a stable, peaceful and environmentally safe world, supports the objectives of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Together with our partners in the South Pacific Forum, we continue to reaffirm our commitment to maintaining the South Pacific region as a nuclear-weapon-free zone. We also express our support for the other regional nuclear-weapon-free zones in Africa, South-East Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, and also for the proposed new initiatives for Central and South Asia.

We call on all nuclear-weapon and threshold States to stop all testing, manufacturing and stockpiling of these weapons and to take steps towards the destruction of all nuclear weapons. Indeed, the same principle should apply to all weapons of mass destruction.

The South Pacific Forum members have always maintained that we have a right to ban transboundary movements of radioactive and other hazardous wastes, within and through the region. We also continue to share the position that appropriate compensatory mechanisms should be established to compensate victims of past nuclear tests and provide compensation for damage resulting from any accidents.

In conclusion, I wish to reaffirm that Papua New Guinea is firmly committed to the United Nations Charter; to the reforms initiated by the Secretary-General, especially those relating to the Security Council and the reconfiguration of the regional groups within the United Nations system; and to the United Nations decolonization process and the Nouméa Accord for the Kanak people of New Caledonia. We support the determination of the United Nations to work towards a global mechanism for natural-disaster preparedness and prevention; the special session of the General Assembly for the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States; and the management of the oceans and seas.

Partnership in promoting change is the key to addressing the challenges that the world will face in the twenty-first century. I believe that the challenge for all Member States is to join together to bring about transparency, accountability and good governance as the basic tenets of this Organization, its organs and subsidiary bodies. If this is achieved, the "people first" sentiment of the United Nations Charter will be truly embraced.

The Acting President

I give the floor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, His Excellency Mr. Jozias van Aartsen.

Mr. van Aartsen (Netherlands)

Speaking to the Assembly one year ago, I demonstrated that the Kingdom of the Netherlands qualified for membership on the Security Council. During the elections two weeks later a substantial majority of this body supported us, and we are grateful to them. As the Netherlands has served on the Council now for more than eight months and is currently its President, I think it is only fair for me to report to all the Assembly members who showed confidence in us. I wish to speak on Africa, on the Council, and on shifting our attention from the State to the people.

Most of today's armed conflicts are in Africa. From Sierra Leone to Eritrea and from the Sudan to the Congo and Angola, Africans are fighting Africans. Fighting accompanies all the plights and pains that are known to humankind, from poverty and pestilence to famine, fear and flight.

Africa is not a land of troubles alone but also of happiness, not a continent only of catastrophe but also one of hope. The sheer mass of Africa's problems obscures our view of its promise and its potential. In the public mind, an unbalanced view of Africa prevails. That view, I feel, needs to be corrected: we need to rid ourselves of prejudice and think positively. Instead of dejection, we need a deepening commitment. Africa, despite the odds, has come a long way already. Personally, I was struck, at the opening of the general debate, by the sight of an African President of South Africa, speaking in front of an African President of the General Assembly, seated next to an African Secretary-General. It is hard to miss the symbolism of that image. It is one image the founding fathers of this Organization might not have had, one image that by itself already holds a promise for the future: the next century may well be the century of Africa.

The Secretary-General, in his report on Africa, has made a link between conflict and prosperity. For this reason, my delegation felt that members of the Council would be well advised to consider this question in some depth, and, in our presidential capacity, we have therefore organized an open-ended public debate, to be held next week, in which the Secretary-General will brief us on the state of Africa.

Let me now turn to the question of how to improve the effectiveness of the United Nations, and the Security Council in particular, in coping with crisis situations. On many occasions in its lifetime, I have admired the United Nations for the way it intervened in emergencies. In particular, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme have enjoyed a long tradition of being in the forefront. Many non-governmental organizations, such as Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), have stood there right beside them.

Let me pose a number of questions on how the Security Council performs in emergencies. First, do we not see a crisis coming before it breaks? Do we not have early warning systems? Of course we do. The call for establishing early warning systems has been around for decades; it has become a buzzword used whenever the inadequacies of the United Nations response machinery are being discussed. But in fact, given the level of communications in modern times, policy planners have plenty of information to be forward-looking. It is not the failing of an early warning system that can be put to blame, nor the lack of data. It is, instead, the failure of decision-makers to react adequately.

Second question: Why, then, does the United Nations react inadequately? Do we not have preventive diplomacy? We do, not only in terms of bilateral efforts of major nations or of the good offices of the Secretary-General; the Council itself can be proactive. The recent mission it dispatched to East Timor is a good example of how the Council can be more assertive. Missions are an existing instrument that is, in my opinion, in need of an upgrade. In addition, the open debate on East Timor in the Council, at which everybody spoke plain language, fuelled the mounting international pressure on Indonesia.

Third question: Is the problem, perhaps, the veto? I know this is a popular view, but it is also a tenuous one. True, we cannot ignore the veto as a factor in the Council's performance record. True again, in our discussions on reform of the Council, the veto is a core element we will one day have to come to grips with. Yet, the problem is an intractable one. Tampering with the veto may itself create the risk of dissolution for the United Nations as a whole. The very fact that a single Member State can hold the entire world community in limbo in the face of harrowing brutalities is affecting the stature and moral force of the Organization. That, too, may be spawning dissolution. It may be argued that, without the veto, the United Nations would not have survived its first 50 years. It may also be argued that, with the veto, the United Nations will not survive the next 50 years. In the first 50 years, the Organization might have fallen apart if the veto had not been there as a buffer against the push and pull of a bipolar world. In the second 50 years, in a multipolar world, repeated inaction by the Security Council would result in parallel actions outside the United Nations framework, pushing the Organization, as a custodian of world peace, more and more into the margins.

No matter when or how the debate on the veto will end, this Assembly should meanwhile call on those who possess it to exercise maximum restraint, particularly in humanitarian emergencies. I concur with my German colleague that the permanent five are duty-bound to explain to the world why they are blocking action by the Council. Moreover, we might consider a situation in which a negative vote by a permanent member does not in itself block action.

Fourth question: Does the problem lie in the political will, perhaps? To simply say that the political will has been lacking is not only a platitude, but also a very partial view of reality. For part of that reality is that images of all the conflicts on the globe travel around the world with the speed of light. The media broadcasts live images of human suffering. Understandably, such images rouse indignation and horror among millions of viewers. They expect instant action. As people are being better informed about current events, their level of expectation rises. The gap between what is expected and what is possible becomes more visible and more acute. By contrast, diplomacy comes with tools that may be old and respectable, but are also solid and slow. And so, while in a globalizing world human misery is disseminated along the electronic highway, diplomacy today still proceeds along a footpath.

This leaves me with the central question: Why is the Council often running behind reality? How can we make it catch up with developments?

As I look back at the general debate this week, I think that we are getting very close to identifying the main obstacle. I know that many interventions share a common element -- they compare the notion of sovereignty to that of human rights and territorial integrity to humanitarian intervention. To be sure, the question per se is as old as the Charter itself. What is new is the venue. I cannot recall that Foreign Ministers at the General Assembly have talked about this question at any length before. I strongly believe that this issue was bound to surface at this level at some point or another.

In 1945, the architects of this Organization included two contradictory premises: respect for territorial integrity and political independence, on the one hand; and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, on the other. The world in those days was ruled by Governments alone, and so the United Nations was made up of States. At the time, the notion of human rights, although grafted onto the Charter with much conviction, was essentially at odds with classical legal thinking. In a way, the tension became even more pronounced at the adoption of the Universal Declaration. After all, for half a millennium the notion of sovereignty had served as the basis of our global political architecture. As the idea was enshrined in the Charter, the founding fathers believed it would stand the test of time. By contrast, the idea of human rights in international relations was, for the most part, a post-war novelty. Indeed, the Charter is much more specific on respect for sovereignty than on respect for human rights.

Since 1945, the world has witnessed a gradual shift in that balance, making respect for human rights more and more mandatory and respect for sovereignty less and less stringent. An elaborate body of international human rights law has come to counterbalance the dictates of paragraphs 4 and 7 of Article 2. Today, human rights have come to outrank sovereignty. Increasingly, the prevailing interpretation of the Charter is that it aims to protect individual human beings, not to protect those who abuse them. Today, we regard it as a generally accepted rule of international law that no sovereign State has the right to terrorize its own citizens. Indeed, if the Charter were to be written today, there would be an Article 2.8 saying that nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize Member States to terrorize their own people.

Mr. van Aartsen (Netherlands)

Let me go one step further. The blurring of the boundaries of sovereignty does not stop at human rights. In the future, the notion of sovereignty is going to be tested beyond that. Think of decrepit nuclear installations, massive damage to the environment, lack of water or mass marketing of narcotic drugs. Can responsible statesmen afford to wait until the damage is actually done? Or do they in fact have a duty to prevent it? These are questions which, at some point, the Security Council will have to be involved in.

It is not the lack of early warning, not the absence of preventive diplomacy, not the veto per se. I call on every politician and every diplomat in this room to accept that the traditional balance between sovereignty and human rights, between the State and the people is shifting. I am convinced this is one of the paramount issues of our time. Momentum is building, and we should seize it. Let us put the issue squarely on the agenda: the agenda of the United Nations, of the Council and of our parliaments at home. I ask the legal community to keep a keen eye on the groundswell that is developing and to be innovative in its thinking. We politicians have a vast responsibility here. We should steer the discussion towards the people instead of the State.

The Security Council should be stronger, not weaker. It should be a credible leader in the maintenance of peace. In order to be credible, it must be consistent, swift and proactive. It must show courage, drive and vision. It must keep changing with the times. It must put people over politics. That is a tall order. Its decision on East Timor gave us hope for the Council's potential.

The Acting President

The next speaker is the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Oman, His Excellency Mr. Yousef Bin Al-Alawi Bin Abdulla.

Mr. Abdulla (Oman)

Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure at the outset to offer you my warmest congratulations on your election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session. Your election to this high post reflects the value the international community attaches to the role played by your friendly country. We are confident of the friendly relations between our two countries. We also know that your expertise and commitment to international issues will enrich the discussions of this session of the General Assembly. My delegation pledges its full cooperation and support to you to make your presidency a success.

I also take this opportunity to express my warmest thanks and appreciation to our colleague Mr. Didier Opertti, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, for his great efforts as President at the previous session. I would also like to salute Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his great efforts in enhancing the administration and performance of the United Nations and its mission to serve international peace and security.

The Sultanate of Oman welcomes the admission at this session of the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga to the membership of the United Nations. We are confident that their membership will reflect positively on the United Nations and will help us further consolidate our efforts as an international community to achieve the progress and prosperity we all aspire to, in a way that promotes the noble goals for which this important international forum was created.

The unanimous decision to hold the millennium summit during the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly is clear proof of the importance of that last summit of this century. This is an essential and important step that will enable our leaders to issue a declaration that may be considered a plan of action. That declaration could reformulate a new concept for economic success and development for all peoples.

As we approach the next century with confidence, we must focus our attention on restructuring the work of international organizations in order to enrich and develop the work of the United Nations and its relevant agencies, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other international and regional institutions, so that they are able to function effectively for the future welfare and prosperity of humanity.

We recognize the importance of the effective management of these international institutions through the generous and special financial and technical contributions of developed nations and institutions. These contributions must always meet the needs and priorities of reforming the economies of developing nations, which form the largest part of the global market and which provide a large part of the world's natural resources and raw materials. The development of these economies will undoubtedly bring about a more stable world economy.

We call for the establishment of balanced rules and regulations between the developed nations of the North and the developing nations of the South in order to effect a qualitative change in their relations. While bold change and real sacrifices are needed to restructure the economies of the developing world so that they can meet the requirements of the global free market, there is a greater need for the economically developed nations to take bold and decisive steps in cancelling more debts, restructuring the costs of manufactured goods and establishing a new economic mechanism to provide loans and to re-regulate the size of industries and lower global rates of inflation. We also call for the establishment of an international reporting system that will draw up periodic regional plans to enable all regions to achieve the economic advances necessary to overcome their economic difficulties.

We look with admiration and great interest to the European Union's experience of economic integration as a pilot project that aims at serving the economic prosperity of the peoples of the European continent, the integration of their cultural heritage and the elimination of their social and political differences. Indeed, such a qualitative leap in European society would undoubtedly contribute to a more stable and balanced world, especially if it were based on moral norms of international transparency. It would surely be an excellent model which could be emulated in other parts of the world in keeping with the specific requirements of these regions and in a way that responds to their traditions, their heritage and the particularities of their culture. We believe that economic development and trade are a bridge for communication between civilizations.

Therefore, negotiations leading to the admission of the rest of the developing countries to the Wor