General Assembly Session 55 meeting 28

The Acting President

I ask for the cooperation of all speakers in observing the voluntary 20-minute guideline for their statements. The full text of their statements will be distributed.

The first speaker is His Excellency Mr. Joseph Mutaboba, Chairman of the delegation of Rwanda.

Mr. Mutaboba (Rwanda)

May I first, on behalf of our Minister for Foreign Affairs, who could not be here, on behalf of my delegation and on my own behalf, join previous speakers in extending to the President our heartfelt congratulations on his election to preside over the fifty-fifth session.

In addition, I congratulate his eminent predecessor, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, and the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, on the quality and great quantity of activities carried out during the recent Summit.

I also take this opportunity to congratulate and welcome Tuvalu, the 189th Member of our Organization. We hope that other potential Members, such as Western Sahara in Africa, will soon be able to join us.

The Millennium Summit -- in which the Head of State of Rwanda, Mr. Paul Kagame participated -- evaluated the twentieth century and formulated recommendations for enhancing the work of the Organization in the twenty-first century, now beginning. As a number of speakers emphasized, the twentieth century was the era both of great and unprecedented technological triumphs and of crises as great as the new means of destruction.

The distressing feature of the First and Second World Wars was that they made use of the advanced technologies of the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century to cause enormous human and material devastation. In 1918 and again in 1945 all humanity was overwhelmed by the terrifying consequences of a world war. "No more wars leading to the loss of millions of human lives"; "No more genocide": these were the calls of the founding countries of the United Nations when they met in San Francisco in October 1945.

Today, as in the past, the international community finds itself reliving horrors that it thought it had banished for ever, horrors that include the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. It certainly was not a lack of theoretical principles of public morality or international law that contributed to preventing or stopping this genocide. These principles had even been greatly strengthened in 1948 by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and had been widely diffused throughout the world by many organizations that took up the banner of human rights.

The Brahimi report (A/55/305) was needed. We welcome its conclusions and recommendations, and take this occasion to warmly congratulate our Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, on having commissioned it and the two others that preceded it: the Srebrenica report and the courageous Carlsson report. Our Organization had its failures, but the Brahimi report tells us that we can do better in the future. To miss this unique opportunity to reflect on what must be done, and how, would be to renounce our responsibilities and the principles and values expressed in the Charter of our Organization. Another Rwanda or Srebrenica would disgrace us all.

Undoubtedly, we must look elsewhere for the true source of the problem. It is surprising that even today countries that claim to embrace human rights are delaying and using pretexts to block prosecution of the authors of the genocide. There are even some who -- afraid to accept or think about what happened -- refer to this genocide as what happened in Rwanda in 1994, being afraid even to think about it. To take just one example, I refer to the observations of Minister Yerodia Ndombasi on 16 September.

In sum, my delegation calls on the international community to draw every possible lesson from the genocide committed in our country, so that "Never again such a human tragedy" ceases to be an empty phrase. Much more urgent is the question of assistance to Rwanda for rebuilding and making good the huge material and moral damage caused by the 1994 genocide. Such assistance was recommended in the reports of the Independent Inquiry set up by the United Nations and of the Organization of African Unity's international panel of eminent persons. All the members of the international community represented here can help Rwanda rebuild and develop. And each time we wish to do more for the Organization and humanity let the Brahimi report serve as a source of inspiration.

I take this opportunity to salute the Security Council discussions of 15 April, when the recommendations of the Carlsson report were considered and the Council was urged to use its influence to ensure that they were effectively followed up by other United Nations institutions and agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), from which we are awaiting special assistance as part of the development assistance programme for Rwanda. We venture to hope that the reforms under way at UNDP will lead to the provision of assistance based on a sincere and enthusiastic partnership according to the British model eloquently outlined by Prime Minister Tony Blair during the Millennium Summit. It is a partnership steeped in equality, justice and fraternal solidarity for all. We invite all our partners to embrace this initiative, in their relations not only with Rwanda, but with all the other developing countries -- especially the former colonies.

The reports that I have mentioned also justly call on the international community -- beyond contributing to the task of overcoming the devastating effects of genocide -- to contribute vigorously to preventing this crime against humanity, in particular by suppressing it. Those who hide, protect and advocate for the criminals responsible for the 1994 genocide should think twice before persisting in this evil behaviour.

I now come to the Congolese crisis, certain aspects of which can be seen as an extension of the genocide committed in Rwanda in 1994. It is worth recalling that after their defeat and withdrawal many militia members and former Rwandan soldiers who were authors of the genocide took refuge in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Not only were these former soldiers and militia members not disarmed at the time, but they have benefited from new military equipment and training, allowing them to commit acts of genocide along the borders and prepare for a repetition of the previous widespread genocide campaign. Is this not sufficient reason to ask a responsible Government to act to preserve the sovereignty of its country and the security of its people? The Assembly can well understand that this is hardly a case of a security pretext, but, rather, of a current reality.

The plan for a massive invasion by the genocidal forces was thwarted in November 1996 -- thank God -- by the forces of the Rwandan Patriotic Army. But from May 1997 to August 1998 it was necessary to once again repel infiltrations from the Congo and to resist other acts of genocide committed in the north-western part of our country. The horrors of this rebellion have been the source of a number of resolutions, but the world seems to have rapidly forgotten them.

It is in this context that our country now has a military presence in the Congo -- a presence whose only purpose is to prevent a recurrence of genocide in Rwanda by the same Interahamwe militia and soldiers of the previous regime. We have more or less succeeded in achieving our objectives. Since 1998 we have captured many soldiers of the previous regime and Interahamwe militia, contrary to what Minister Yerodia Ndombasi told the Assembly on 16 September. Most of these soldiers -- there are many of them -- have rejoined the army. We are continuing to hold 135 of them while they await a decision.

We have also succeeded in saving some of the Interahamwe and the soldiers of the former regimes, as well as innocent civilians who had been held hostage during all this time for purely military and political purposes. In the category of liberated hostages, 12,000 were repatriated since August 1998, and the process continues. We have established centres to receive them on our borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and several humanitarian organizations, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), have also been involved. This is a secret to no one, and it has been documented by the UNHCR at Goma and Gisenyi. Those who are against our successes say that these people are Congolese citizens that we have forced into exile in Rwanda, because their departure has created a vacuum in the operations of the allies of these forces of genocide. They are our citizens, and no one can claim to love them as much as we do. They are at home, awaiting the others with open arms.

My Government welcomed the signing of the Lusaka agreements in July 1999 and still upholds them. Their main principles are, first, that the inter-Congolese political negotiations should lead to a new political order in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and, secondly, that the armed groups should be pursued and disarmed, including former Rwanda military and the Interahamwe authors of the 1994 genocide, who are still attempting to continue their misdeeds, encouraged by certain of our Congolese brothers who go so far as to deny their presence on Congolese territory with the sole purpose of vilifying us, to judge by the statement by Minister Yerodia Ndombasi last Saturday.

The Rwanda delegation deplores the Kinshasa Government's recently calling into question these same agreements, despite the fact that they are upheld by all the countries concerned of the subregion, the Organization of African Unity and the Security Council. Just before that, the Congolese Government had created controversy by refusing to authorize the free movement of United Nations military observers; and that free movement would not be possible outside those agreements, to which that country is a party.

As far as Rwanda is concerned, we believe that, at this time, the Lusaka agreements constitute the only framework that will guarantee a lasting peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in the subregion. Any other approach in this matter would run the risk of dangerously jeopardizing the peace process now under way.

Furthermore, the slowness and hesitations observed in our Organization regarding the deployment of the forces of the United Nations Mission in the Congo must be reviewed, and advantage must be taken of the current offers to strengthen the presence of the United Nations in the zones evacuated by the signatory parties of the Lusaka agreements. Any attempt to reduce the force would only lead to the kind of catastrophe from which the Brahimi report tries to spare us.

I should like to take this opportunity to commend the growing role of regional and subregional organizations in resolving conflicts. As is well known, such a positive involvement has already led to considerable results in various parts of the world, including in South-East Asia and Western Africa. It is our hope that the United Nations will adopt a similar approach to regional contributions to its machinery for conflict resolution.

If the question of conflicts in the world continues to be one of the major preoccupations of our Organization, it would no doubt be a good idea to pay special attention to their prevention. This requires being attentive to the efforts made to eradicate, or at least attenuate, the root causes of conflicts, both domestic and external.

With respect to Rwanda, the halting of the 1994 genocide was followed by courageous policies inspired by the tragic lessons of our recent history. These policies were translated into the following actions for and factors of national reconciliation, as follows:

In July 1994, a Government of National Unity and a Parliament were established including all the components of the Rwanda population and all the political circles of the country. This was an integrative approach such as had never before been known in independent Rwanda, despite the linguistic, socio-cultural and historical advantages that militate in its favour.

The policy of exclusion, which lasted more than 30 years in all sectors of national life, from education to employment, was eliminated. We are pleased to have abolished, 60 years after its introduction, the identification card, which categorized people according to their ethnic origin and their place of origin and on the basis of which decisions were taken to kill people or to spare their lives.

A skilled, professional national army was established, including the forces of the Rwandan Patriotic Army, which liberated the country, as well as a portion of the forces of the former regime that had separated themselves from the perpetrators of genocide. We welcome their bravery and their discipline. The United Nations needs troops of this type for difficult operations in Sierra Leone and elsewhere.

In March 1999 the National Commission on Human Rights and the Commission for Unity and National Reconciliation were established.

The judicial system was rehabilitated, which guarantees the independence of the magistrature. This judicial system has been strengthened by a form of justice called gachacha, which, while keeping to international judicial norms, will benefit from major inputs of the population at the early stages of a trial. This will have the advantage of accelerating the prosecution of those accused of genocide.

In two and a half years more than 3 million refugees have been repatriated. This is all the more striking since Rwanda's refugee problem, having lasted for more than 30 years, is the most numerous and longest-standing in Africa. At present the only ones remaining outside the country are families of criminals responsible for genocide and some refugees whom Rwanda wants to repatriate, but who are still being manipulated by those criminals. Our head of State asked them to return in his inaugural statement at the Supreme Court, and some of them have begun to come back voluntarily to the country.

Democratic elections were held last year. Following the upcoming local elections, they will be completed in October. These are orientations that today guide the policy of unity and national reconciliation, the need for which became clear after the genocide of 1994.

Beyond the eradication of genocide, there are many challenges that deserve the attention of the international community at the beginning of the new millennium. These relate to the gaps between developing countries and prosperous countries in the context of globalization, the reform of the United Nations system and many other current problems, such as the spread of AIDS.

With respect to the gap between developing countries and prosperous countries, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw gaps between industrialized countries and poor countries grow even wider. This resulted from technology as well as from political and commercial inequalities left over from the colonial era. After independence many development proposals were made, such as the provision of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for development assistance, technology transfers, a new international economic order favouring fair remuneration for commodities, and so on.

All these strategies have been the subject of a number of international conferences. None of them has been implemented sustainably or consistently. Some of them have remained theoretical and have not even begun to be implemented as programmes. But it is never too late.

For some time now, we have been in an age of globalization of economies in the context of structural gaps that have not changed much since the sixties. My delegation would like to emphasize the urgent need for the preliminary adoption of certain measures to facilitate the establishment of machinery for efficient globalization. Is there any need to recall that the external debt of developing countries constitutes, in and of itself, a real handicap to their economic recovery? How can one talk about growth in a context where external debt absorbs 60 per cent or more of the export income of these same developing countries? What will be the result of globalization in an environment where the competition of market economies reduces in advance the role of certain parts of the world to that of eternal consumers, with the monopoly on production elsewhere? These are all questions that deserve urgent answers and solidarity on the part of the international community.

My delegation believes more particularly that the success of globalization requires courageous accompanying measures, such as eliminating the debt for poor countries and providing support for economic integration policies, in particular in Africa. This requires our world Organization to endow itself with machinery that can help to guide globalization.

For some time now, the United Nations has rightly been concerning itself, at the highest level, with the reform of the functioning of its structures. This is an urgent matter, as it affects what is at stake for the future and even the survival of all of humankind, which can no longer be managed in the same spirit and with the same structures as 55 years ago. We should remember that the number of Member States has increased from 51 in 1954 to 189 today; that is an irrefutable argument for democratization. In this same context, Africa, which has 10 times as many Member States in the United Nations as it did when the Organization was founded, must occupy the place it deserves in the major decision-making bodies of the United Nations, such as the Security Council and others. The Bretton Woods institutions must also change their character and behaviour if globalization and equity are to be real and consistent.

In conclusion, I would like to speak about that other challenge for our times: the AIDS pandemic. This disease is currently responsible for the loss of more human lives that the most deadly wars. The people of the poorest countries are the most vulnerable in the face of this disease of the century. The delegation of Rwanda would like, from this rostrum, to make an urgent appeal to the international community to show solidarity in the face of the threat of extinction of the human race that AIDS represents. Put simply, taking AIDS lightly trivializes the crime of genocide. Both are exterminating people and should be combated with vigour and determination.

More specifically, aid should be provided for humanitarian -- if for no other -- reasons, so that the least developed countries can benefit from the most up-to-date medicines, at affordable prices, that can provide relief from people suffering from AIDS and do all that they can to contain this scourge.

Furthermore, my delegation is convinced that an effort to mobilize the greatest possible financial resources would enable scientific research to take place to bring this disease, and others, such as malaria, which are devastating a large part of the population, under control.

We hope that the twenty-first century, which is just beginning, will usher in a world of peace and solidarity that will meet the greatest aspirations of humanity.

The Acting President

The next speaker is His Excellency Mr. Patrick Albert Lewis, Chairman of the delegation of Antigua and Barbuda.

Mr. Lewis (Antigua and Barbuda)

Let me first of all congratulate Mr. Holkeri on his unanimous election to the mantle of the leadership of the world's foremost international body. He is presiding in this, the last year of the present century, following the profound commitments manifested at the Millennium Summit. We look forward in eager anticipation to the implementation of the Summit pledges, as small States are becoming more and more disillusioned with the actual manifestations and the selectivity of the United Nations.

I should like to offer congratulations to his predecessor, who, as we know, comes from a recently independent country -- a country which had to struggle in order to be entrusted with the management of its own affairs. In him, we saw a genuine attempt to move towards some equilibrium in this body. As such, my country applauds his efforts, but we are still awaiting the day when small countries will receive the respect due to sovereign States.

This year we will be making a deliberately short statement, in the hope that the Assembly will concentrate on the myriad of problems with which we are plagued.

Small States do not equate with small problems. In reality, the reverse is often the norm, particularly when the State in question is still on the periphery -- the periphery of the dominant industrial entities. In the case of my country, peripheral existence emerged in the post-Colombian era when, along with other Caribbean countries, we became colonies of exploitation, as opposed to colonies of settlement. Mercantilism demanded our production of agricultural commodities, whether indigo, cotton or sugar cane; it was a monoculture, designed solely and purposely for the betterment of the mother country, at the expense of the colonies.

But no doubt the question is being asked as to why I am raising that issue here. It is precisely because the lingering reality is that we are sometimes moved to ask ourselves if we are still victims of the "Robinson Crusoe" mentality. To be a colony of exploitation meant that the entity was an area of underdevelopment -- an underdevelopment which meant that we were to remain in that state in perpetuity if we were to fulfil the precise conditions for exploitation.

Throughout history, smaller entities have been, as it were, invisible. We do not have small problems. How could that be the case when nuclear waste is still being trans-shipped through our waters, despite numerous and repeated protests, pleas and entreaties? We have a problem with the World Trade Organization (WTO), which rules in favour of the interests of multinational enterprises and the countries benefiting from the operations of those enterprises. The Windward Island producers of bananas were at a total disadvantage, as they could not afford to pay the cost of adequate representation before the WTO. In 1896, the silver-throated orator, William Jennings Bryan, stood up in California and asked whether mankind should be crucified upon a cross of gold. Today, we must ask if Windward Island humanity is to be snuffed out on a bed of yellow fruit, thereby sending a ripple effect throughout the Caribbean, culminating in deprivation, degradation, depression and the severest forms of dehumanization.

At the Millennium Summit round table, much time was spent talking about globalization, without the fundamental reality of that globalization -- so-called free trade -- being dealt with. In modern history, there has never been free trade. It has been advocated, encouraged and even preached about. John Bright and Richard Cobden have been acclaimed for their "gospel of free trade", but it has never been a reality. In the nineteenth century, it was propelled by the industrial and maritime countries which stood to benefit from it. In the twentieth century, it has emanated from the dominant States, and the statistics demonstrate that it has wrought havoc on most of the developing world.

This has primarily been the result of selfishness and the unwillingness to listen to and accept the concerns of those who suffer most from it. Yes, we benefit from the expanded use of the Internet, the greater access to education and the ability to travel abroad more frequently. But we have been hurt by extraordinary pressures to control our economic advancement, whether by the influence of multinational enterprises or by maritime activity, which deplete our resources and pollute our environment. Instead of our nutritional level improving, the statistics again show that poverty has spread, and the sick in poor countries cannot access the medicines needed to improve the health of their societies. If we are to have globalization, let us recognize its imperfections and address them meaningfully. Let us not preach, "do as I say but not as I do".

Globalization does not have a human face. We continue to hear about the opportunities for the developing countries, but we are still waiting for the benefits to be made manifest. While we wait, we would like to remind this body that we remain disappointed that the International Criminal Court will not be dealing with illegal trafficking in narcotics or with illegal trade in arms and terrorism. Let us be heard. Let us be seen. We do not have small problems.

At the Millennium Summit, my Prime Minister, Lester Bryant Bird, clearly demonstrated how the world's economic and political agenda is devised and directed by a few of its most powerful Governments. He stated that Antigua and Barbuda, as well as several other small countries,

"have experienced the most blatant disregard for the rules of international law, rules that have been spelled out by the General Assembly and upheld by the International Court of Justice." (A/55/PV.3)

The principle now is "might is right". The Prime Minister pointed out that all of this is being done by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which believes that its States will lose capital to other States because of their more competitive tax regimes. They have gone further by dubbing tax incentives "harmful tax competition" and linking it most unfairly with money-laundering activities, even when there is no evidence for the charge. My country has voluntarily agreed to contribute more for peacekeeping even with our strapped finances, as we accept our role as a contributor to the welfare of the globe. We would likewise hope that the dominant be fair to us.

I can go on and on with our difficulties and our victimization primarily due to our pusillanimous nature. For the first time in several years we have not elaborated on natural disasters. By now all members of the United Nations should know of our plight. We would however wish to speak on a decolonization issue.

Antigua and Barbuda has followed closely the question of Western Sahara, and even though we do not have an international intelligence system, we are calling for an implementation of the referendum, as the signals for renewed violence, if the United Nations does not carry out its pledge, are quite clear. We do not wish to see, once again, the carnage witnessed in East Timor.

The conflict, as it has been underlined through resolutions of the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity, and the Movement of Non-Aligned States, must be resolved through the exercise of the Saharawi people of their right to self-determination. The international community has for decades adopted this legal framework as a basis for a just and durable solution to the conflict. We believe that the referendum can be organized before next year, and we are calling for such. We do not wish another situation with the outbreak of violence.

Let me sum up with a few things that Antigua and Barbuda would like to see at the United Nations. We would like to press for the end of "selective" multilateralism and move towards the incorporation of "genuine" multilateralism. We desire to have a reform process expanded beyond the Secretariat and practised among all countries of the Organization. Reform should not connote expansion, it should mean restructuring. The principle of rotation on the major decision-making bodies, particularly the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), should become a reality. And may I repeat: the principle of rotation should become a reality. The concept of globalization should be viewed in its entirety, and a study should be done on its effects on developing countries. The gross national product should not be used as the sole criterion for graduating a State from concessionary loans, and the vulnerability index, on which Antigua and Barbuda is ranked very high, should be taken into consideration. The principle of "the equality of sovereign States" should be used to guard against the marginalization of States within the United Nations system. The countries that have pledged to contribute 0.7 per cent of their official development assistance (ODA) should carry out their commitment in this regard. There should be some form of equity in regard to geographic groupings within the United Nations. While we understand the reasons why the existing groups were created, the time has come for a more equitable arrangement. The nations comprising the United Nations should become truly united.

Antigua and Barbuda will continue to fulfil its obligations to its citizens and to this body. We recognize the benefits that we accrue from our involvement in this parliament of parliaments. We have benefited and will continue to benefit from the programmes of the various bodies and agencies of this body. We are, however, confident that we have contributed towards global progress, and we remain ready to continue our contribution to the United Nations.

The Acting President

I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Hassan Kibelloh, Chairman of the delegation of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Mr. Kibelloh (Tanzania)

At the outset, I should like to congratulate the President on his well-deserved election to the presidency of this Millennium Assembly. I also want to congratulate his predecessor for his invaluable contribution and his outstanding leadership during the fifty-fourth General Assembly. In the same vein, I should like to register my delegation's appreciation to the Secretary-General for the excellent manner in which he is conducting the affairs of the Organization. Let me also take this opportunity to express our delight in welcoming the Republic of Tuvalu as the newest member of the United Nations family.

Tanzania is gratified that the recently ended Millennium Summit addressed some of the most pertinent issues and challenges facing the United Nations and its Members in the new millennium. Those issues include development and poverty eradication; the effects of globalization, including technological disparities; conflict prevention, management and resolution; disarmament; and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, malaria and tuberculosis. It was recognized that Africa and, particularly, the least developed countries suffer most and hence demand urgent remedial action by the international community.

Poverty remains one of the areas of great concern in Africa. The number of poor people in our region living on less than one dollar a day is estimated to be 300 million. That number represents more than 40 per cent of Africa's total population. Indications are that the number of poor people in the continent is likely to increase as Africa's output continues to drop. There is therefore an urgent need for a comprehensive strategy for Africa to address poverty eradication with all its ramifications. The strategy should include a compendium of measures aimed at capacity-building in the development process, including social services. The implementation of such a far-reaching strategy for poverty eradication would very much depend on the availability of resources. Bearing in mind that in 2001 the United Nations will convene a High-level Intergovernmental Event on Financing for Development, it is our hope that the issue of mobilizing resources for the development of Africa will be thoroughly addressed.

Official development assistance continues to be particularly critical in supporting development efforts in Africa and the least developed countries. It is sad to note that flows of official development assistance have fallen to an all-time low of 0.2 per cent, far from the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of the gross national product of developed countries. My delegation therefore wishes to appeal to our development partners to reverse the trend of declining resources and increase the level of official development assistance contributions.

Many African countries are undertaking painful reforms aimed at attracting foreign direct investment. However, foreign direct investment flows have been minimal. Investors should feel encouraged to invest in Africa because the competitive rate of return on foreign direct investment stands at between 24 per cent and 30 per cent. That rate is higher than those of all developed countries, which stand at between 16 per cent and 18 per cent. We therefore call on Governments and relevant international organizations to assist in sensitizing potential international investors to the possibility of directing their investments to Africa.

The various debt relief initiatives pursued by the international community have been helpful, but not sufficient, in providing a meaningful solution to the debt problem of the developing countries. In some of those countries, external debt service constitutes a major drain on scarce resources, taking at least 30 per cent of the national income. In that regard, we welcome the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative to support some of the poor countries in their efforts to resolve the external debt problem. My Government appreciates being one of the countries which have attained eligibility under this scheme. We call upon the institutions concerned to speed up the process towards our reaching the completion point so that we can fully benefit from HIPC relief.

Commenting on the HIPC Initiative, my President, Mr. Benjamin William Mkapa, has had this to say:

"Tanzania welcomes the revisions made to the HIPC Initiative. If implemented in full they will provide additional debt relief, which in turn will facilitate the war on poverty and will contribute to sustainable growth and development if managed well. However, if growth is to be sustained, adequate levels of external funding must complement our economic reform efforts. Debt relief under the HIPC Initiative should also not be a substitute for increased bilateral non-debt-creating aid, and neither should it be financed through reallocation of committed aid."

Even acknowledging the importance of the HIPC initiative, the burden of meeting debt service payments would remain heavy even after debt relief for most of the least developed countries. We therefore call upon the donor community to increase HIPC debt relief and to consider additional relief measures, including debt cancellation, so that scarce resources will be released to cater for economic development and poverty eradication programmes.

The development of the least developed countries depends on improvement of their capacity to produce goods and services. Improvement of terms of trade and market access for the goods of least developed countries in the developed countries' markets would further contribute towards poverty eradication efforts. In that regard, we call upon developed countries to provide unhindered market access for goods from developing countries, particularly from least developed countries. In the same context, my delegation calls for speedy implementation of the World Trade Organization's Integrated Framework for Trade-related Technical Assistance which will facilitate the integration of least developed countries into the world trading system.

The development process of developing countries very much depends on access to technology and on the endogenous capacity to develop it. We are encouraged that the Millennium Summit reiterated the need to assist developing countries to leapfrog into new technologies in order to close the existing technology gap between developed and developing countries, especially least developed countries. It is our sincere hope that the Millennium Declaration will be translated into a concrete programme of action to assist developing countries to develop the critical technologies, including information technologies, needed for their development. We therefore call upon our development partners and all relevant international institutions to facilitate the transfer of technology, including environmentally sound technologies, on favourable terms.

My delegation believes that South-South cooperation is an important means of realizing some of the objectives of economic development. Tanzania fully supports the programme of action adopted last April in Havana, Cuba, at the South Summit.

Tanzania recognizes and fully supports the role of women in the development process. Here, the Government has adopted a number of specific measures aimed at enhancing the participation of women in decision-making processes, and at bringing about equal access to education and health, and access to credit on a preferential basis. In the area of representation, for example, the Government has increased the minimum quota of women parliamentarians from 15 per cent to 20 per cent. The Government has also passed legislation that criminalizes discriminatory activities against women. Furthermore, the Land Act was revised in 1999 to enable women to own land, the major means of production in Tanzania. Tanzania is firmly committed, therefore, to implementing the Beijing Platform for Action. We therefore call on the international community to support our efforts in this regard.

Serious pandemics such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis are threatening the economic and social development of developing countries, especially African and least developed countries. For example, the scale of the HIV/AIDS pandemic has grown to alarming proportions in Africa. The Security Council has recognized this menace as constituting a security threat. Moreover, the Millennium Summit has underscored the urgency of adopting effective action to combat the scourge. Tanzania urges the international community to assist developing countries in this endeavour, particularly in education and access to affordable treatment.

Disarmament, peace and security continue to be crucial to the aspirations of all humanity, and therefore they constitute a critical challenge of the new millennium. The existence of huge arsenals of nuclear weapons poses a major potential threat to world peace and security. These weapons continue to represent a threat to the survival of mankind. Tanzania calls for the complete destruction and elimination of all nuclear weapons. The United Nations also needs to urgently address the problem of small arms and light weapons, which fuel most of the ongoing conflicts in various regions of the world. In this context, we strongly support the convening of the 2001 United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects.

The Millennium Summit addressed extensively the conflict situations existing in some countries, including those of Africa. The Summit reaffirmed the existence of the intrinsic link between peace and development, which requires an integrated approach to conflict prevention, management and resolution. While supporting United Nations peace efforts, we note with concern that there has been a slow and an inadequate response to African conflicts from the United Nations.

In Angola, it is with apprehension that we bear witness to the continuing hostilities and the grave humanitarian situation brought about by Jonas Savimbi and his organization, UNITA; they have blatantly violated the decisions of the Security Council regarding the implementation of the Lusaka Protocol. It is disturbing that Mr. Savimbi has been able to sustain his insurgency by violating the sanctions imposed against UNITA by the Security Council. We call upon the international community to continue its support to the Government of Angola.

On Burundi, my delegation is pleased to note that after protracted negotiations between the parties involved in the Burundi conflict, the Burundi peace and reconciliation agreement was concluded in Arusha, Tanzania on 28 August 2000. We welcome the agreement and commend the Facilitator, President Nelson Mandela, for his role in reconciling the parties. We also commend the regional leaders for their efforts in support of the Burundi peace process. Although a small number of parties to the conflict did not sign the agreement, efforts were made to ensure that all of them would sign it. As I speak here, most of the parties have now signed. It is our hope that the parties will abide by the terms of the agreement and afford the people of Burundi the opportunity to realize their aspirations for peace and development. We call upon the United Nations and the international community to extend support to the agreement.

As for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Lusaka Agreement remains the basis for the resolution of the conflict in that country. It is unfortunate, though, that there is an impasse in the implementation of the Agreement. One of the reasons for the existing situation is the mistrust among the parties. The delay in the deployment of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has created a vacuum that has further contributed to the impasse. Tanzania supports Security Council resolution 1234 (1999). We also urge the Security Council to deploy the peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as soon as possible.

On Somalia, we welcome the agreement reached in Djibouti on the formation of the Government of that country. In this regard, we congratulate the Government of Djibouti for its constructive role in the reconciliation process.

Concerning Western Sahara, Tanzania reiterates its support for the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people and the effort of the United Nations to organize and supervise an impartial, free and fair referendum, in accordance with the Settlement Plan for Western Sahara and the relevant Security Council and other United Nations resolutions. We urge the United Nations to conduct, as soon as possible, the referendum on the basis of the preparations that have so far been made. The lessons of East Timor should not be ignored.

On the Middle East, Tanzania continues to support the cause of the Palestinian people. In this regard, we welcome the ongoing peace process aimed at achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in that volatile region.

There is a direct linkage between conflicts and the incidence of refugees and internally displaced persons. In this respect, Tanzania finds itself in the very difficult situation of hosting more than 800,000 refugees, most of whom are products of the crisis in the Great Lakes region. This is a huge burden for a poor country like Tanzania. Besides, refugees pose many problems relating to security and environmental degradation. There is an urgent need for the international community to increase its support to the refugees, as well as to the refugee-hosting countries. In the same vein, we reiterate our call for international burden-sharing and responsibility in refugee situations. A definitive solution to the refugee situation evidently lies in resolving conflicts so as to enable the repatriation of refugees to their countries of origin.

One of the pressing reform issues in the United Nations is the reform of the Security Council. Among the significant changes of our time is the liberalization and democratization of economic and political processes. The Security Council cannot persist in being an exception. Its composition and powers must bear a relationship to the democratic ideals necessary for its continued relevance and legitimacy. It is our hope that the Council membership will be expanded in both categories and that such expansion should include both developed and developing countries.

Furthermore, Tanzania believes that the capacity of the United Nations to effectively carry out its mandate is contingent upon the willingness of all Member States to support it politically as well as financially. In this regard, we call upon the Member States to provide it with adequate resources on a timely and predictable basis.

Tanzania also welcomes the many reform proposals and measures that have been introduced to improve working methods, both at the Secretariat and at intergovernmental levels. For that effort to succeed, there has to be consensus among Member States on the best method to manage change in the United Nations.

In conclusion, allow me to observe that the Millennium Assembly, like the preceding Summit, is an act of partnership. We can only hope, therefore, that the renewed enthusiasm and the recommitment to the Charter of the United Nations will galvanize our energies and enable us to rise to and fulfil, the hopes and aspirations of the Organization and its peoples, as espoused in the Millennium Declaration.

The Acting President

I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Ignacio Arcaya, Chairman of the delegation of Venezuela.

Mr. Arcaya (Venezuela)

I again extend our congratulations to the President on his election.

The Millennium Summit has charted for us a plan of action for the immediate future. We must consistently bear that plan of action in mind as our main priority, and direct all our work towards its effective implementation. We cannot view the final document adopted by the most important gathering of world leaders ever held as a mere expression of good intentions and act as though it were a matter of routine and as if nothing had happened.

First, we must take action to ensure that the vast majority of the human race living in developing countries make significant progress towards the attainment of sustainable development. We must make special efforts with respect to the millions of men, women and children who live in poverty. They must be given means of subsistence, education and medical care.

Our most important shared instrument, the United Nations, is currently ill-equipped for that enormous task. We must therefore focus on giving it the power and means to play an effective role in that important effort. We believe that the United Nations must play a central role in the struggle for development. To that end, we must consider without delay ways to strengthen the General Assembly, our most democratic and open institution. It is equally necessary to strengthen the Organization's primary instrument in this field, the Economic and Social Council, which should become a real council for human development, with authority and ability to act comparable to the Security Council's.

The message of the Millennium Summit is very clear: peace and development are equally important, and each depends on the other. The most urgent tasks in the struggle against poverty are also clear: to alleviate the debt burden of highly indebted poor countries; to tackle the scourges of AIDS and malaria; and to provide education for all. In all of those tasks the United Nations must play a leadership role.

In order to meet the established goals of reducing world poverty by half by 2015, we must ensure that national Government's measures adopted in accordance with the social platform of United Nations conferences, to benefit their populations in the areas of health, food and education, are accompanied by international cooperation based on solidarity, in order that those tasks are carried out efficiently and promptly.

It is therefore particularly important, in order to support the objectives of, and strategies for, poverty eradication, that developed countries meet their commitment to dedicate 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product to official development assistance.

It is equally urgent to ensure that the rules regulating international trade and finance are just and equitable, not only in theory but also in practice, so that they lead to development for all, and not merely to the further enrichment of a privileged minority.

In that regard, the high-level intergovernmental meeting on financing for development, to be held next year, should result in effective coordination and harmonization of all the efforts Governments and international organizations, so that those efforts may bear tangible fruits meeting the needs of all countries. The United Nations must be the coordinating centre for the World Trade Organization and the Bretton Woods institutions.

With regard to foreign debt, it is vital that the international community promote, on the basis of North-South dialogue, the adoption of concerted measures for the effective resolution of this problem, which is seriously weakening the sustained economic growth of developing countries affected by the excessive burden of debt servicing. We believe that it will be necessary to consider the timely rescheduling on favourable terms of the international financial commitments of developing countries, including highly indebted poor countries and medium-income countries.

The freeing of resources currently allocated to debt payment will make it possible for those countries more efficiently to meet the real needs of their populations in the areas of food, health and education. It will also promote their peoples' participation and full integration within their respective societies. It is also necessary to recognize the economic and social costs incurred by developing countries in meeting foreign debt payments.

Shared responsibility in dealing with economic and social issues, as well as with regard to questions of peace, requires more intensive and effective participation by developing countries in the world economy, particularly in decision-making and the formulation of international and economic norms.

The efforts of the developing countries towards poverty eradication, economic and social progress, sustained economic growth and sustainable development are dependent on a favourable international economic environment and on international cooperation for renewed and strengthened development. The magnitude and urgency of the challenges facing us in the economic and social sphere require the support of all Member States in order to realize the aspirations of those who cry out for a more equitable and just world, in which poverty eradication and the promotion of development are a genuine expression of international peace and stability.

As for our other main priority, the maintenance of peace, we must learn from our experience -- both from our mistakes and from our achievements.

The United Nations must be provided with the means to anticipate and prevent conflicts, not just put an end to them once they have erupted.

In this respect, disarmament, including nuclear disarmament, is vital, as is the elimination of the illicit arms trade. Also key is the struggle against transnational criminal activities such as terrorism and the illicit drug trade.

In this context, we welcome the proposal of the Secretary-General to convene an international conference on the reduction of the nuclear threat. We believe that this could help strengthen the commitment to eliminate nuclear weapons, as recently agreed at the sixth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

Venezuela supports the convening of the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, to be held next year. That Conference will be a perfect opportunity for us to combine our efforts to adopt measures of cooperation to eliminate this illicit activity, which has links to organized transnational crime and is encouraged by unscrupulous groups or individuals who act unlawfully.

The role of the United Nations as the only forum empowered to authorize the use of force must be reaffirmed, without distinctions or exceptions, apart from self-defence, which in turn must be in strict compliance with the provisions of the Charter.

It is urgent to this end to make effective progress towards reform of the Security Council. This does not mean mere cosmetic change, but rather real reform, with a view to ensuring its credibility as a democratic, transparent and impartial organ in which no country has the right to block, through the use of the veto, action agreed by the majority.

If we wish the Millennium Summit to have real significance, if we want it to be remembered not only because of the milestone represented by the participation of an unprecedented number of world leaders, we must take concrete action at this session of the General Assembly. Towards that end, Venezuela fully supports the proposal made recently by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Uruguay to create a working group to ensure implementation of the Millennium Summit Declaration. We believe that this group should be open to participation by all Member States. We believe also that the representatives of the countries that co-chaired the Summit and those that presided over the four round tables, as well as the Chairmen of the regional groups, should participate actively in this process.

The Acting President

I give the floor to His Excellency The Honourable Anil Kumarsingh Gayan, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation of Mauritius.

Mr. Gayan (Mauritius) --> -->

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/data/vhost/www.undemocracy.com/docs/trunk.py in ()

194 if __name__ == "__main__":

195     pathpart = os.getenv("PATH_INFO")

196     maintrunk(pathpart)

197

198

maintrunk = <function maintrunk>, pathpart = '/generalassembly_55/meeting_28'

/data/vhost/www.undemocracy.com/docs/trunk.py in maintrunk(pathpart='/generalassembly_55/meeting_28')

131     elif pagefunc == "gameeting":

132         LogIncomingDB(hmap["docid"], hmap["gadice"] or "0", referrer, ipaddress, useragent, remadeurl)

133         WriteHTML(hmap["htmlfile"], hmap["pdfinfo"], hmap["gadice"], hmap["highlightdoclink"])

134     elif pagefunc == "agendanumexpanded":

135         LogIncomingDB(pagefunc, hmap["agendanum"], referrer, ipaddress, useragent, remadeurl)

global WriteHTML = <function WriteHTML>, hmap = {'docid': 'A-55-PV.28', 'gadice': '', 'gameeting': 28, 'gasession': 55, 'highlightdoclink': None, 'htmlfile': '/home/undemocracy/undata/html/A-55-PV.28.html', 'pagefunc': 'gameeting', 'pdfinfo': <pdfinfo.PdfInfo instance>}

/home/undemocracy/unparse-live/web2/unpvmeeting.py in WriteHTML(fhtml='/home/undemocracy/undata/html/A-55-PV.28.html', pdfinfo=<pdfinfo.PdfInfo instance>, gadice='', highlightth=None)

322         if dclass == "spoken":

323             if not gadice or agendagidcurrent == gadice:

324                 WriteSpoken(gid, dtextmu, councilpresidentnation)

325         elif dclass == "subheading":

326             if agendagidcurrent and (not gadice or agendagidcurrent == gadice):

global WriteSpoken = <function WriteSpoken>, gid = u'pg012-bk02', dtextmu = u'<h3 class="speaker"> <span class="name">Mr. Gaya... to arrive at a final solution on this issue.</p>', councilpresidentnation = None

/home/undemocracy/unparse-live/web2/unpvmeeting.py in WriteSpoken(gid=u'pg012-bk02', dtext=u'<h3 class="speaker"> <span class="name">Mr. Gaya... to arrive at a final solution on this issue.</p>', councilpresidentnation=None)

69     print '</cite>'

70

71     print dtext[mspek.end(0):]

72

73     print '</div>'

dtext = u'<h3 class="speaker"> <span class="name">Mr. Gaya... to arrive at a final solution on this issue.</p>', mspek = <_sre.SRE_Match object>, mspek.end = <built-in method end of _sre.SRE_Match object>

<type 'exceptions.UnicodeEncodeError'>: 'ascii' codec can't encode character u'\xe9' in position 13117: ordinal not in range(128)
      args = ('ascii', u'\n\t<p id="pg012-bk02-pa01">It gives me great plea... to arrive at a final solution on this issue.</p>', 13117, 13118, 'ordinal not in range(128)')
      encoding = 'ascii'
      end = 13118
      message = ''
      object = u'\n\t<p id="pg012-bk02-pa01">It gives me great plea... to arrive at a final solution on this issue.</p>'
      reason = 'ordinal not in range(128)'
      start = 13117