General Assembly Session 55 meeting 107

The President

I should like to recall that, at its 9 th plenary meeting on 11 September 2000, the General Assembly decided to allocate agenda item 97 to the Second Committee. In order for the Assembly to proceed expeditiously on this item, may I take it that the Assembly agrees to consider agenda item 97 directly in plenary meeting?

The President

May I further take it that the Assembly agrees to proceed immediately to the consideration of agenda item 97?

The President

I give the floor to the representative of Italy to introduce draft resolution A/55/L.89.

Mr. Francese (Italy)

I have the honour to introduce to the General Assembly draft resolution A/55/L.89, on the statute of the United Nations System Staff College. This draft is the result of consultations undertaken pursuant to resolution 54/228 of 1999, which culminated in resolution 55/207 of 2000. The latter resolution decided to establish the United Nations System Staff College as of 1 January 2002, after approval of its statute, and indicated its basic mission and purposes. That resolution requested that the Secretary-General continue consultations on an urgent basis with the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) and relevant United Nations organizations, and that he submit, as early as possible, a final draft of the statute for the College. According to the resolution, the statute should reflect, as appropriate, the outcome of these consultations on functions, governance and funding for review and approval by the General Assembly, preferably at its fifty-fifth session.

As soon as the Secretary-General's report (A/55/989) was made available, the Chairman of the Second Committee convened a session of informal consultations on 20 June, finding a window of opportunity in the extremely busy calendar of the General Assembly. Ambassador Alexandru Niculescu of Romania deserves the deepest appreciation for his personal commitment and leadership, which made it possible to achieve an excellent text and overcome every difficulty, including last-minute red tape.

The main purpose of the informal consultations was to ascertain whether Member States were satisfied with the ACC's approach in terms of the functions, governance and funding of the College. This approach calls for "true ownership of the Staff College by the specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system" (A/55/989, para. 18). The informal consultations cleared up any uncertainties over the meaning of the notion of ownership, particularly its resource implications, which was the only key issue whose details still had to be worked out after resolution 55/207 had been adopted by consensus. On 20 June last, therefore, it was possible to reach consensus on this issue, too.

For technical reasons, today's draft resolution is being presented only by Italy and Romania. As a matter of fact, after the recent informal consultations we were all under the impression that, to reflect the consensus achieved, the draft would be submitted to the General Assembly as a Chairman's text. This did not prove possible because of procedural constraints that emerged only later. This left too little time to organize another round of consultations with the co-sponsors.

When resolution 55/207 was adopted at the end of the main part of the current session, 95 countries, in addition to Italy and Romania, sponsored it. Today, it is fitting that they be mentioned by name once again: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, the Comoros, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Mali, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, the Federated States of Micronesia, Monaco, Morocco, Nauru, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Moldova, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Spain, the Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.

Leaving technicalities aside, it is clear that those countries will all continue to be recognized as those whose constant support facilitated the successful completion of the procedures to establish the new United Nations System Staff College.

Those are the roots of the simple and self-explanatory draft resolution that I have the honour to introduce, in the hope that it may be adopted today.

Mr. Niculescu (Romania)

It is a pleasure for me to be here in the General Assembly this afternoon with you, Mr. President, and with my colleagues -- I suspect that all of them are from the Second Committee -- to finalize another important initiative under your presidency. Last fall, when we decided, in resolution 55/207, to establish the United Nations System Staff College as from 1 January 2002, we also decided to leave some time for informal consultations on finalizing the statute of the Staff College. Pursuant to that resolution, I convened the informal consultations of the Second Committee on Wednesday, 20 June, in order to examine the draft statute of the College and to discuss a draft resolution that I presented on the subject. During those informal consultations, an agreement was reached ad referendum, both on the draft resolution and on the statute of the Staff College, and I sent details of that understanding to you, Mr. President.

I have nothing further to add, except to say how much I appreciated the cooperation of Italy. I reciprocate the kind words addressed to me by the representative of Italy, my good friend Pier Francese, and by other colleagues from the Second Committee, who were kind enough to agree ad referendum to our proposals. I submit this draft resolution to the Assembly for adoption today.

Since I suspect that this is the last time that I will be involved as Chairman of the Second Committee, I would like to avail myself of this opportunity to thank you, Mr. President, very much for the continued support and collaboration that you have extended to me throughout my chairmanship and to thank all my colleagues for their cooperation and understanding.

The President

We have heard the last speaker in the debate on this item.

The Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution A/55/L.89, entitled "Statute of the United Nations System Staff College in Turin, Italy".

May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt draft resolution A/55/L.89?

The President

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 97?

The President

I should now like to recall for representatives that at its 9th plenary meeting, on 11 September 2000, the General Assembly decided to allocate agenda item 102 to the Second Committee. In order for the Assembly to proceed expeditiously on this item, may I take it that the Assembly agrees to consider agenda item 102 directly in plenary meeting?

I hear no objection.

The President

May I further take it that the Assembly agrees to proceed immediately to the consideration of agenda item 102?

I hear no objection.

The President

We shall now proceed accordingly.

The President

The General Assembly will now resume its consideration of agenda item 102.

In connection with agenda item 102, the General Assembly has before it a draft resolution issued as document A/55/L.88.

I give the floor to the representative of Bangladesh to introduce draft resolution A/55/L.88.

Mr. Chowdhury (Bangladesh)

I have the pleasure of introducing the draft resolution on behalf of the least developed countries, entitled "Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010", the text of which is contained in document A/55/L.88.

This Programme of Action and the accompanying Declaration are the outcome of the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, the most recent of the 10-yearly gatherings recommending policies and measures for economic and social development of the least developed countries. The Third United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries, held in Brussels from 14 to 20 May 2001, dealt, through its seven commitments, with a wide range of issues for follow-up at the national, subregional, regional and global levels.

In order to give a final green light to commence the process of implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries without losing any more time, as we are already in the middle of the first year of the decade, it is necessary that we present this draft resolution during the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly. One of the first steps in this process will be taken by the ongoing session of the Economic and Social Council, which has a major responsibility in monitoring the effective implementation of the Programme of Action.

The least developed countries thank you, Mr. President, for providing us with the opportunity to adopt this procedural, but significantly important, draft resolution during this session.

Draft resolution A/55/L.88 contains one preambular and two operative paragraphs.

In its preambular paragraph, it recalls the resolutions adopted by the previous four successive General Assembly sessions, which decided on the holding of the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries and established its broad scope and parameters.

In the first operative paragraph, the draft endorses the outcome of the Conference: the Brussels Declaration and the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries 2001-2010.

In the last operative paragraph, the Assembly decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-sixth session the relevant agenda item under which the Programme of Action adopted by the Conference will be considered.

As I said, the present draft resolution is procedural in nature and is intended to endorse the two major documents adopted at the Conference. We will engage in more substantive discussion during the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly, when we will have before us the report of the Secretary-General on the question of arrangements for follow-up. Other documents relevant in this context will be A/CONF.191/L.5, which contains the G-77 position on section III of the Programme of Action, and the Declaration of the Ministerial Meeting of the Least Developed Countries, held in Brussels, contained in document A/55/1005.

The least developed countries are grateful to our fellow developing countries for their continued constructive engagement and for the political support extended to them throughout the Conference process. The present text enjoys the unanimous support of the least developed countries and of the Group of 77 and China, as formally extended to it at the meeting of the groups on 28 and 29 June, respectively.

The least developed countries also appreciate the role of our development partners and their support in promoting a positive outcome in Brussels and its subsequent implementation process.

I would take this opportunity to thank the European Union for hosting the Conference; Sweden, for its presidency during the Conference; and Belgium, not only for holding the conference in Brussels, but also for its current European Union presidency, when implementation of the Programme will be set in motion.

We thank the Secretary-General of the United Nations for his continued support to the least developed countries and for his personal presence and the rich statement he made at the Conference.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), as the Secretary-General of the Conference, and his secretariat deserve our appreciation for providing all the necessary support for the conference.

Our appreciation is also due to the different agencies of the United Nations system and to the other multilateral organizations which contributed to the richness of the outcome of the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries.

The draft resolution contained in document A/55/L.88 is co-sponsored by all of the least developed countries. Let me note that due to time constraints, not all of them have been able to formally sign up, but, as I said, this draft enjoys the support of all of the least developed countries. I will read out the names of the countries that have signed the document: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Lesotho, Ethiopia, Haiti, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Liberia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sao Tome and Principe, United Republic of Tanzania, Senegal, Togo, Uganda and my own country, Bangladesh.

We are happy that the countries of the European Union -- Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom -- are co-sponsoring the draft resolution.

On behalf of the co-sponsors and on my own behalf, having acted as the coordinator of least developed countries at all three Conferences in various capacities, I submit, for adoption by consensus by the Assembly, the draft resolution contained in document A/55/L.88.

The President

We shall now proceed to consider draft resolution A/55/L.88.

The Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution A/55/L.88, entitled "Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010".

May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt draft resolution A/55/L.88?

Mr. De Loecker (Belgium)

At the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, held in Brussels from 14 to 20 May 2001, the European Union welcomed the endorsement by the General Assembly of this Programme of Action, which is very complete and of fundamental importance. Throughout this process, our goal has been to contribute to the creation of a solid Programme of Action for the next decade by focusing on poverty eradication in the least developed countries on the basis of partnership and mutual commitment. This is the bet we are placing.

The European Union would like to thank all of its partners and the major actors that have contributed to the success of the Conference. Moreover, we would like to underscore that the endorsement of this Programme of Action is merely the beginning. The real results will be shown through its implementation and follow-up over the next decade.

In this respect, the European Union continues to be willing to work in close cooperation with its partners so as to ensure that this Programme of Action will contribute effectively to the improvement of the living conditions of the populations of the least developed countries, which are among the poorest in the world. We will involve ourselves actively in the debate on the follow-up mechanisms at the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly.

The President

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 102?

Ms. Wensley (Australia)

Mr. President, I wish to thank you very much for scheduling this plenary debate, and I am glad you have been able to rejoin us this afternoon. It seems to me that not only have they displaced you from your office, Sir, while they are renovating, but they have also displaced you from your customary place in the General Assembly Hall. We are all having to make some adjustments to our new physical surroundings.

The Australian Government welcomed the recent report by the Secretary-General on the prevention of armed conflict, which was presented to us this morning by the Deputy Secretary-General. We see this report as serving two important purposes. First, and most obviously, it raises important issues on how the United Nations addresses conflict, and it points our way ahead for preventing future conflict. But we also see it as a useful tool that can help us all in the ongoing process of improving the capability and effectiveness of the United Nations. From this particular plenary debate, we hope that we will see ways found to move its recommendations forward.

Australia recognizes that preventive action must address the multiple causes and factors that generate or contribute to conflict. The recent General Assembly special session on HIV/AIDS underlined for all of us the changing concept of international security to encompass a wide range of threats to humanity, including environmental and health problems and poverty. Effective analysis and identification, however, of the nature of problems, of the nature of conflict, of the threats to security and of their root causes is not much good to us unless these are matched by appropriate, preventive and remedial action. An integrated approach to conflict prevention must obviously be multifaceted, drawing on the broad expertise of the political, security, development, humanitarian and human rights agencies of the United Nations system, and also including the Bretton Woods institutions and beyond. We welcomed in particular the importance placed on human rights aspects of conflict prevention, as highlighted in recommendations 16 and 17 of the Secretary-General's report.

It is also important that the United Nations continue to enhance its capability to react quickly in response to emerging crises. In this regard, the Secretariat has a key role to play, and there is a real need to strengthen its early warning capacity. The Security Council also needs to be less reactive and more proactive in its approach to conflict prevention. Security Council missions have been used to good effect in recent years, as we found, for example, in East Timor. In our view, much more could be done with this mechanism. This morning I was interested to hear Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani suggest that there would be benefit in analysing why a particular Security Council mission failed. We think that that sort of analysis should be applied also to where Security Council missions succeeded. As the Deputy Secretary-General said to us this morning, where prevention works, it is less visible. We do tend to focus on the negative and on the failures. But there are also successes, and if we are going to do that sort of analysis, let us look at both: what has worked, why did it work, what did it achieve and, again, where were the things that went wrong? From that we should be able to draw some very valuable experience.

We would also agree with a lot of other speakers in this debate today that the roles of the Security Council and of the General Assembly are complementary in conflict prevention and need to be used to full effect. I am very pleased to see a number of current members of the Security Council joining us and participating in and listening to this debate. That is the sort of practical interaction that will actually help us move from talking about these things to making them happen.

The Secretary-General has drawn an important distinction between regular developmental assistance and humanitarian assistance programmes, and those implemented as a preventive or peace-building response to problems that could lead to an outbreak or recurrence of violent conflict. While it is essential to address emergencies as they occur, this cannot be at the expense of long-term development programmes which build the conditions for sustainable peace. As the major development agency of the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme has a particularly important role to play in addressing the development aspects of conflict prevention. There are substantial benefits to be gained by bringing together those agencies that hold the skills and the experience to bring about peace and development. The role of non-governmental organizations, addressed by the report in recommendation 27, is obviously also significant.

Flexible, low-maintenance mechanisms to achieve greater coordination and cooperation between those engaged in conflict prevention should be explored, as recommended by the Brahimi report on United Nations peace operations. We see some very important linkages between this latest report of the Secretary-General and our work to implement and move forward the Brahimi report.

In supporting a comprehensive, integrated approach by the international system to conflict prevention, my Government is conscious of the principal responsibility of national Governments to prevent differences from deteriorating into conflicts. In this regard, we would highlight the importance of good-governance programmes in assisting nations in addressing these issues, and I would note the high and increasing priority that Australia gives to such programmes.

We were very pleased to see the emphasis in this report on regional activities. Australia supports very strongly effective coordination between regional organizations and the United Nations. Regional organizations and arrangements have an important role to play in supporting sovereign States and broader international action. Their close proximity and their awareness of local issues always give them added insight into conflicts, and can provide a good local forum for efforts to decrease tension and to broker solutions.

Recommendation 9 in the Secretary-General's report calls for enhanced regional prevention strategies. In our region this is not just a matter of words; we are already working on these things. We have embraced that approach in our region. The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum is the principal multilateral forum for security dialogue in the Asia-Pacific region, and it continues to be an important element in the security architecture of the region as a whole. ASEAN Regional Forum members have agreed on a three-stage evolution for the ASEAN Regional Forum, from confidence-building to preventive diplomacy and, in the longer-term, to conflict resolution. The Forum is beginning a transition from a confidence-building to a preventive diplomacy phase.

Increasingly, as we all know, many conflicts are influenced or affected by regional issues. A number of factors that can fuel conflict -- such as small arms flows, drug-trafficking or illegal exploitation of natural resources -- have cross-border linkages that would benefit from being addressed through regional measures and arrangements.

I would like to highlight a few specific situations in the South Pacific subregion: Bougainville and Solomon Islands. In Bougainville, Australia remains strongly committed to the role of the Peace Monitoring Group. We welcome the progress achieved through the United Nations/Peace Monitoring Group facilitation by Papua New Guinea and Bougainville officials towards reaching a comprehensive political settlement. In Solomon Islands Australia leads an international peace monitoring team to promote confidence in the peace process and supervise the collection of weapons.

Finally, in terms of giving the Assembly some practical examples of the way in which preventive diplomacy can be pursued in a regional context, our experience in East Timor provides a good example of how the United Nations acted effectively to help resolve an extremely serious situation. Here I want to take the opportunity to emphasize that there is a need for continuing international engagement in post-independence East Timor to build on the achievements made so far, to continue to develop not just the physical infrastructure, but also the political institutions and civil society mechanisms needed for future stability and development. As the Secretary-General noted in his report, sustainable development is predicated on peace and stability. It is important that we continue to provide all necessary support to the people of East Timor to assist them in their endeavours to protect the investments made by the United Nations and the international community so far.

As we are all too painfully aware, the proliferation of small arms sustains and exacerbates armed conflicts. We agree with the Secretary-General that measures to prevent the misuse and illicit transfer of small arms and to address the root causes of the demands for small arms would greatly contribute to the prevention of conflict.

There are some other comments in my statement, which is being circulated, about some of the work that we have been doing on small arms, but I will leave representatives to read these comments themselves. I want to go on to talk about another subject that is vitally important in the context of this discussion: gender.

Gender is an important element of the effective promotion of peace, as has been acknowledged particularly in recommendation 24 of the report. There is a need for effective institutional arrangements to guarantee the protection of women affected by armed conflict. In addition, and just as importantly, the full participation of women in peace processes is an essential part of the maintenance and the promotion of international peace. The Security Council recognized this in resolution 1325 (2000), when it expressed its willingness to incorporate a gender perspective into peace operations.

I was present at a discussion among a group of Ambassadors earlier this week where some of them said they did not even know what the word gender meant. When we have this sort of discussion then we really do need to be focusing on these issues, looking at what decisions are made and saying, "how do we put them into effect?"

It was very important that in that Security Council debate and in that resolution -- as well as highlighting the need to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence -- the Council recognized that women should not always be seen as vulnerable, helpless victims, but as strong and capable persons who can be valuable and active contributors to peace processes. I certainly hope that, as we work on following up on this report, we will focus on putting substance into this area of the report's recommendations. We most certainly join the Secretary-General in encouraging the Council and the Assembly to give greater attention to gender perspectives in their conflict prevention and peace-building efforts.

In conclusion, we would stress that, as we follow up on this report and seek to implement its recommendations, it is particularly important that we address the issue of conflict prevention in an integrated way, drawing together all relevant organs of the United Nations and involving other necessary actors. Unless together we make a determined effort to do this, we will simply never achieve the transformation that the Secretary-General has urged: to change our perception of a just international order from a very simple vision of the absence of war and conflict to a vision of sustainable peace and development for all.

Ms. Jarbussynova (Kazakhstan)

At the outset, my delegation would like to express its sincere gratitude to you, Mr. President, for convening this plenary meeting to discuss the report of the Secretary-General on prevention of armed conflict. We hope that this debate will contribute to the elaboration of the strategy of the international community in this field. Prevention of armed conflict lies at the heart of the mandate of the United Nations to maintain international peace and security. My delegation commends the report of the Secretary-General and his tireless personal efforts to enhance the role of the United Nations in the prevention of armed conflicts.

The document under consideration today reviews the progress achieved by the United Nations in developing its conflict prevention strategy and contains numerous concrete recommendations to further mobilize the activity of the United Nations system in this field. In drafting this report, the Secretary-General took into consideration the different views of Member States and the members of the Security Council on the issue. The report has a comprehensive approach and emphasizes the need for strengthening cooperation between the wide range of actors in elaborating effective preventive strategies and building a mutually reinforcing partnership between the United Nations system, regional organizations and civil society.

My delegation concurs with the view that the prevention of armed conflicts could be comparatively economical and cost-effective, saving lives and the environment for development. Regrettably, however, we must recognize that the prevention of armed conflict remains one of the lesser aspects of the United Nations work. That means that the international community should respond adequately to this modern-day challenge by demonstrating the political will of Member States and their strong commitment to the United Nations Charter.

The Secretary-General has also indicated that fundamental responsibility for the prevention of armed conflict rests with national Governments. My delegation agrees that conflict prevention is a collective obligation of Member States; it also believes that here the United Nations plays the key role and that the United Nations and the Security Council have a clear responsibility in the maintenance of peace and stability.

Therefore, the Security Council needs the full cooperation of all the other principal bodies of the United Nations. Every effort should be made to expand the area of interaction of those United Nations organs and to promote the role of the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and the Secretary-General, who, in accordance with the United Nations Charter, can bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which might threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.

When the members of the Security Council last month held a discussion focused on the prevention of armed conflict, the principles and recommendations set out by the Secretary-General received a positive response. We hope that the Security Council will take an early decision on the recommendations addressed to that main United Nations body.

My delegation fully endorses the recommendation that the Security Council should consider the establishment of innovative mechanisms to enable it to discharge its responsibilities more effectively. We think that a subsidiary body of the Council for considering preventive measures in specific situations would be an important component of the Security Council's activities on this issue. We also support the Secretary-General's intention to provide the Council with periodic regional or subregional reports on threats to international peace and security. That will enable the Security Council to formulate effective responses.

Kazakhstan welcomes the report's recommendation on the development of regional strategies that would involve regional actors with a view to promoting long-term conflict prevention. That recommendation is particularly important for my country and the other countries of Central Asia, which face the danger of a further spread of the conflict in Afghanistan. That conflict contributes to tension in the region and represents a real threat to the stability and security of Central Asia and of the international community as a whole. The recent incursions by Islamic militants confirm the need for a comprehensive approach to the Afghan crisis.

The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Nursultan Nazarbaev, addressing the Millennium Summit in September 2000, called for a special meeting of the Security Council to consider the situation in Afghanistan and Central Asia in order to take practical steps to stabilize the situation in that region.

We believe that a special meeting should launch the process of the adoption by the international community of comprehensive political, economic and humanitarian measures to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan and bring long-awaited peace and stability to the suffering Afghan people. Today's realities require that the international community adopt new approaches to assessing the current political, military and geopolitical situation in the region of Central and South Asia and that it develop a qualitatively new concept for an Afghan settlement containing mechanisms for international intervention and for mobilizing financial and material resources.

Kazakhstan strongly believes that the active involvement of regional security systems in processes for the maintenance of international peace and security will enhance the peacemaking potential of the United Nations. Kazakhstan has been consistently promoting its initiative on the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia. We are grateful to all States participating in that process for their support of our initiative and for their genuine willingness to work together to build an Asian security system. This November, my country will host a summit of countries members of the Conference. We are confident that that gathering will be an important event in the light of its contribution to the efforts of the international community to ensure global and regional security.

Mr. Kumalo (South Africa)

Thank you, Mr. President, for convening today's debate on the report of the Secretary-General on the prevention of armed conflicts (A/55/985). At the same time my delegation also wishes to commend the Secretary-General for preparing an excellent report to guide our debate here today.

More than 50 years ago, the United Nations was formed based on the fundamental objective of saving humanity from the scourge of war and violent conflict. However, the world today is still far from being a peaceful, just and secure place. Simmering disputes, violent conflicts, ethnic strife, religious intolerance, xenophobia and racism are some of the dangerous characteristics of contemporary human society. The process of globalization has often placed profound strains on States and their constituent parts, resulting in an escalation of existing tensions within them. Nowhere are those conditions more truly present than in the continent of Africa.

South Africa believes that there exists an inextricable link among peace, democracy and development. Therefore, in our view, the prevention of conflict within States requires that we work towards the establishment of solid institutions of democratic governance which protect the rule of law and promote fundamental human rights, including the right to development. The responsibility for achieving those goals rests primarily with States and their national Governments. In Africa, we are beginning to make great strides in our efforts to achieve peace, democracy and development. Those efforts are facilitated by the growing realization among African leaders that the continent's destiny can no longer rely on the good will of others and that development cannot take place without peace.

Just this week, the Assembly of Heads of State or Government of the Organization of the African Unity adopted a landmark initiative in which African leaders committed themselves to take joint responsibility to strengthen continental mechanisms for conflict prevention; to promote and protect democracy and human rights; to promote the rule of law; to restore and maintain macroeconomic stability; and to promote the role of women in African societies. However, it goes without saying that the success of our efforts also depends on an enabling international environment, particularly in the spheres of international trade and the eradication of the debt burden.

Against that backdrop, my delegation wishes to express the following views with respect to the role of the General Assembly in the prevention of armed conflict.

First, in my delegation's view, the General Assembly, as the only universal forum, has an important role to play in the prevention of armed conflict, particularly in creating and maintaining global values and norms, and in nurturing greater awareness. The present report could serve as an impetus for future discussion in the Assembly aimed at consolidating such global norms and values.

Secondly, at a practical level, the General Assembly can play a positive role in providing the necessary political and financial support for efforts aimed at strengthening regional capacities to deal with conflict prevention and resolution. We commend the efforts of the Secretary-General to facilitate collaboration between the United Nations system and regional organizations in the areas of prevention and peace-building. However, we believe more can be done in this domain by ensuring that cooperation between the United Nations regional actors becomes more focused on key areas, such as analysis, information-sharing and the building of early warning capacities in regional organizations.

Thirdly, as the Secretary-General rightly points out in his report, peace-building, whether before or after conflicts, forms an integral part of a broader strategy of conflict prevention. The complexity of peace-building tasks and the vastness of the resources required necessitate the engagement of a multiplicity of international actors, including civil society and the private sector. The response to these challenges requires unity of effort and long-term engagement. In our view, the General Assembly is eminently placed to meet these challenges and to bring the range of actors together to ensure the unity of effort of the international community.

The post-cold war world has witnessed a firm acknowledgement of the link between peace and development. Although poverty and underdevelopment are not in themselves the primary root causes of conflict, their existence in combination with other factors certainly provides fertile ground for violent conflicts. The development dimension of conflicts provides an ideal opportunity for the Economic and Social Council to play a more active role in supporting efforts aimed at the prevention of conflicts. In collaboration with the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council is well placed to assist in the development of long-term strategies that address the root causes of conflict. We therefore look forward to a debate in the Economic and Social Council to consider its role on this very complex matter.

Finally, with respect to the role of the Secretary-General in the prevention of armed conflicts, my delegation wishes to commend the tireless efforts of Secretary-General Annan to bring greater coherence to the activities of the United Nations system in addressing conflicts, as was demonstrated by the recent inter-agency missions to West Africa. Such coherence is the first major step in nurturing a culture of prevention. We encourage the Secretary-General to continue to sharpen the Organization's tools of analysis and early warning.

In conclusion, the prevention of armed conflict remains a historical imperative rooted in the Charter of the United Nations. While much can be done, and has been done, to improve the Organization's capacities to meet its responsibilities in early warning and analysis, the success of prevention ultimately depends on the political will of the broader international community to act consistently and decisively to remove threats to international peace and security. This will require from Member States a reconfiguration of the notion of national interest, taking into account a changing conceptualization of security that includes an emphasis on the security of human beings.

Mr. Kanu (Sierra Leone)

Mr. President, we commend you for convening this meeting on a matter of tremendous importance to my country and, indeed, to our continent of Africa. We also thank the Deputy Secretary-General for introducing the report on the prevention of armed conflict.

Sierra Leone commends the Secretary-General for his brilliant and comprehensive report. The report has given us constructive and thought-provoking ideas for further reflection. However, I must confess that speaking now, after having listened to the speakers before me, I was left with the option of not contributing at all to this debate, because most of what I wanted to say has been covered by other delegations, and I risk repeating what they have already said. If I fall victim to this possibility, I offer an unqualified apology.

Any analysis of any conflict must include an examination of the root causes of the conflict. This is where an assessment of the political, social and economic variables must be given top priority. In this regard, we agree with the Secretary-General's linkage of conflict prevention and sustainable, equitable development as mutually reinforcing activities. We therefore support all the recommendations made by the Secretary-General in this report and the attendant principles enunciated therein. We will comment on some aspects of the report.

We agree with the Secretary-General that all organs of the United Nations are key actors in conflict prevention. Let me refer to two of the main organs, the Security Council and the International Court of Justice. We agree with the Secretary-General that the Security Council, as the organ with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, has a key role to play in the prevention of armed conflict. Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter provides the basis for preventive action by the Security Council, as stated in the report. However, in most, if not all, cases, the Security Council gets involved only when the armed conflict has already occurred. In this regard, we agree with and support the measures proposed by the Secretary-General in recommendation 3 of his report, especially the early warning measure.

We believe that when there exists in a country the obstacle of inequality in political, economic and social opportunities, it is likely to lead to armed conflict to resolve the imbalance. People rebel because they perceive an imbalance between their expectations and capabilities. For example, such imbalances may take the form of one tribe or one religion dominating other tribes or other religions. It may also occur when the political class lives a life of ostentatious opulence at the expense of the masses and neglects the people's expectations and aspirations. This situation existed in my country, Sierra Leone, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In fact, some academics have postulated that the situation I have just described caused the armed conflict in my country.

We also agree with the report that the International Court of Justice is an indispensable element of the system for the peaceful settlement of disputes. However, the Court contributes to the resolution of disputes between States and occasionally, between international organizations. In other words, the International Court of Justice litigates on disputes of an international character. The question that arises, then, is "What about disputes of a non-international character, such as rebellions by armed groups within a State?"

We believe that the establishment of ad hoc international tribunals and special courts for countries emerging from conflicts is an effective means of preventing armed conflicts. We cannot deny that those who take up arms within a State invariably commit heinous atrocities against innocent civilians, including women, children and the old. The establishment of ad hoc tribunals and special courts -- and let me mention here the establishment of the International Criminal Court, which will come into operation when 60 States have ratified its Statute -- will act, in our view, as a deterrent to those in future who propose to engage in armed conflicts. There is therefore a link between international criminal courts and the prevention of armed conflict.

We support the recommendation contained in paragraph 60 of the report on the establishment of a United Nations office in West Africa. We commend the Secretary-General for this recommendation. We look forward to the establishment of this office after careful consideration of all aspects of its role and mandate, in order to avoid duplicating the functions of other bodies in the region. We also strongly support recommendation 9 of the report; the spirit and intent of this recommendation are in line with the thinking in our part of the world.

We support the holding of the Conference now taking place on the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. It is legally and morally imperative that we take immediate action to control the manufacture, transfer and stockpiling of small arms and light weapons, which account for the bulk of the casualties and atrocities in conflicts. The uncontrollable proliferation of these weapons helps to propel armed conflicts. There should be greater transparency on the part of Member States on the manufacture and sale of small arms and light weapons. In this regard, we enthusiastically support the Secretary-General's recommendations 14 and 15 in the report.

One link in the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons is the role that transnational organized criminals play in this evil trade. We call upon all States to sign as a matter of urgency the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. My country, Sierra Leone, will soon sign that Convention. However, we affirm the legitimate right of States to acquire arms for their legitimate use, their right to individual and collective defence and their duty to protect their citizens. We also support the right of individuals to carry arms in support of their fundamental and constitutional rights.

In conclusion, we call on all developed countries to hearken to the clarion call of the Secretary-General to the donor community to increase the flow of development assistance to developing countries. Over the past few years, the flow of development assistance has slowed down. The downward trend must be changed. In this regard, we commend the role of the United Nations specialized agencies, civil society and non-governmental organizations in filling the gaps left by the reduction of development assistance.