Brunei, 1993

Before making my statement I should like to take this

opportunity to express my country’s deepest sympathy with

the Government and people of India as they mourn the

thousands of lives lost during last week’s earthquake.

I wish to congratulate you on your election,

Mr. President; to thank the outgoing President for his

contribution to the work of the United Nations; and to

welcome all the new Members of our Organization.

Much has been expected of the United Nations in the

past year. Its priority has been to ensure that the profound

political and economic change does not result in global

conflict. This has sometimes meant coordinating

international efforts. On other occasions the United Nations

has had to take the lead in these operations. At the same

time, it has continued to take up the challenges presented by

the many far-reaching social, humanitarian and

Forty-eighth session - 6 October l993 7

environmental problems of our day. These have proved

more and more difficult to contain within national or even

regional boundaries.

The United Nations responsibilities have often been

undertaken under most unfavourable conditions. I am

therefore pleased that our Secretary-General and the

countries representing the United Nations have always

responded positively to the situations they have faced. I

hope that they will continue to do this, even after such

distressing events as those which have occurred in Somalia

this week.

I say this because the past year has seen so many

valuable achievements. The success of the United Nations

Transitional Authority in Cambodia has shown what can be

done through responsible regional efforts and patient

multilateral action. In South Africa, national, regional and

international efforts in support of United Nations resolutions

have brought new hope. In the Middle East, the United

Nations has been a positive influence in reducing tension

after the Gulf War.

We also welcome the agreement between the Palestine

Liberation Organization and Israel. This is the first step

towards a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question.

There have also been several initiatives aimed at

improving the world economy and developing better trading

arrangements in regions. At the same time, the United

Nations has continued to give essential assistance to people

in developing countries. It has also maintained its peace-

keeping operations in a number of problem areas. The

United Nations has also organized important international

conferences where nations have been able to exchange views

on many matters of international concern. This represents

a considerable contribution to preventive diplomacy and

peace-building. In each case, I hope these achievements will

be consolidated by national and regional authorities.

In Cambodia, we wish the new Government every

success as they go about the task of bringing lasting stability

to their nation. Like all the countries in our region, we look

forward to seeing the Cambodian people enjoying peace and

prosperity again.

In South Africa, I believe conditions now exist for

national leaders to encourage restraint and seek consensus.

The countries in the Gulf region are also in a position

to work towards peaceful solutions to the remaining areas of

difficulty.

In the Middle East, current developments should start

a process that will restore all legitimate Palestinian rights

and should lead to a comprehensive settlement in the region.

In terms of the world economy, objectives have been

set. What we hope to see now is equally clear progress in

strengthening linkages between the North and the South and

in creating conditions that promote cooperation and

sustainable growth. To do this, we need to improve the

existing mechanisms for preventing economic disagreements

from turning into open conflict. Each nation has a

responsibility to promote fair trading arrangements

throughout the world.

Today’s overall situation presents many challenges. I

feel that we can continue to turn them into positive

developments if we note carefully the circumstances under

which the United Nations appears to achieve its greatest

successes. These occur when the special responsibilities of

national Governments, non-governmental organizations and

regional associations are recognized and agreed upon before

the world body is asked to act.

Where those responsibilities have been in confrontation

with each other, the effectiveness of United Nations

operations has been hindered. This is clearly illustrated in

Somalia and in Bosnia. In those countries, the United

Nations initially acted in order to guarantee safe and

effective humanitarian assistance. There have been

considerable successes in these operations, and I thank those

who have achieved them for their humanitarian work.

However, these efforts and the fact that conflict has not

been allowed to spread outside the regions concerned should

not divert our attention from the deep matters of principle

involved.

That is why we wish to express our strong support for

the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We believe

that the United Nations Charter would be severely

compromised if the Organization became a party to any

arrangement which forces a sovereign nation and fellow

Member of the United Nations to submit to aggression. Not

only would this condone terrorism - it would reward it.

In seeking to ensure that the United Nations does not

become merely another factor in a local political equation,

there are a number of proposals for reform. These are

intended to give confidence to Members that United Nations

decisions reflect the widest possible spectrum of world

opinion. If they also assist in solving the world body’s deep

8 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

financial problems, I see merit in considering them

favourably.

We all have our different views on how the United

Nations should best operate. Whatever they are, I hope we

will make every effort to encourage our regional and

subregional associations to play a crucial supporting role.

Ideally, each region will be working on its own agenda for

peace and development which will complement the work of

the world body. The more this is done, the more the United

Nations will be able to act in the way in which it is most

effective - as the authority of last resort. In this way, I

believe we can make considerable progress towards

establishing what the Secretary-General has described as a

workable international system.