Ivory Coast, 1993

I should like to pay tribute to the wisdom of the

Assembly in electing Ambassador Insanally to preside over

this session, thus highlighting the outstanding role of his

country, the Republic of Guyana, and beyond it that of Latin

America in international relations.

I also wish to congratulate the members of the Bureau

and to extend to the outgoing President, Mr. Stoyan Ganev,

our warm congratulations on the excellent work done during

his mandate.

I should also like to reaffirm the full confidence of

Côte d’Ivoire in the Secretary-General ,

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali. President Houphouët-Boigny,

who has met him several times this year, greatly appreciates

his impartiality and ability and his great devotion to his

duties to the international community.

Finally, my delegation congratulates and welcomes the

States admitted since the last session to our Organization,

which is thus moving ever closer to its objective of

universality.

The substantial transformations that have taken place in

the world since 1989 have given rise to profound changes in

international relations. All the points of reference that

allowed us to analyse these relations with certitude have

disappeared. The new atmosphere of confidence and the

spirit of understanding, and at times of solidarity, that

prevail in relations between States and peoples give grounds

for hope and the rapid advent of a new international order

that will be more stable, more just and more able to meet the

aspirations of peoples for shared happiness in a world that

hungers for bread and thirsts for truth. Today’s world is

moving towards a convergence around certain values,

including the primacy of respect for human rights, the

imperative need for democracy, development and

disarmament and the leading role of law in international

relations. Such development can only give rise to great

hopes by opening up the possibility of correcting past

mistakes, sharing the benefits of progress with all and

ensuring the fullness of peace.

With the beginning of real disarmament and the recent

signing of the Convention banning chemical weapons, the

relationship between war and peace is today undergoing a

clear qualitative change. Unfortunately, however, we must

recognize that the international situation is far from

satisfying our hopes for justice and lasting peace.

Indeed, the collapse of the bipolar world seems,

paradoxically, to have opened the door for new threats to

international peace and security. The accumulation of poorly

bandaged wounds, blind ambitions and feelings of rivalry

and hatred built up over decades has re-emerged in various

regions of the world in the form of extremely devastating

and brutal fratricidal conflicts. Thus, Europe, whose level of

socio-economic development did not prevent it from

destroying itself twice in less than thirty years, is today still

in the grip of a terrible conflict in the former Yugoslavia.

That anachronistic and indescribably barbarous war has

justified the creation, for the first time within the United

Nations system, of an international penal tribunal, under

Security Council resolution 827 (1993). So too, Africa,

pushed aside by the disappearance of the bipolar world, has

been torn by numerous internal conflicts with unfortunate

consequences for the entire continent, which needs, rather,

stability and peace within African States, between African

States and between Africa and the rest of the world in order

to deal with the imperative needs of its development and

economic integration.

The situation in Somalia continues to be of great

concern, despite the presence of the United Nations peace-

keeping forces, for the spectre of anarchy, intolerance in all

its forms and violence continues to hover over that country.

We hope that the tireless and commendable efforts of the

international community to re-establish peace in that country

will, within the allotted time, lead to a positive conclusion

and the reconciliation of all its sons and daughters.

We also hope to see very soon a resolution of the

conflict in Liberia. Recent developments in that brotherly

and neighbourly country, which led to the conclusion of the

Cotonou Agreement on 25 July 1993, tend to make us more

optimistic about the rapid restoration of peace.

Côte d’Ivoire has always wished fervently to see the

re-establishment of peace in Liberia and has, in addition,

acted along these lines, as the Yamassoukro Accords attest.

We are gratified by the formation in that country of a

transitional government in the form of a State council

entrusted with the organization of general elections. We

welcome the firm determination of the political elements in

Liberia to work for the ultimate collapse of the wall of

hatred and enmity between Liberian brothers and thus to lay

the foundation for a future of peace and prosperity for all.

In this context it is urgent that the international community

commit itself further to finding the necessary means for the

rapid deployment of new contingents to reinforce the

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

Military Observer Group (ECOMOG) in Liberia to promote

the effective implementation of the provisions of the

Cotonou Agreement, particularly with regard to the entry

into force of the Council of State, disarmament and the

cantonment of factions. It is equally urgent that the

international community come to the assistance, within the

framework of Chapter VIII of the Charter, of States or

regional organizations, participating in peace-keeping efforts

in Liberia. It is also necessary that the question of the

delivery of humanitarian assistance be rapidly resolved to

allow for the regular supply of those regions of Liberia

where famine is raging in order to prevent the incursions of

armed bands in search of food that attack border villages and

hamlets. Here we should like to congratulate all the non-

governmental organizations that are making every effort,

with courage, tenacity and dedication, to save human lives

in that strife-torn country.

It is also fitting to welcome the conclusion of the

International Conference for the Protection of War Victims

held at Geneva from 3 August to 2 September this year,

organized by the Swiss Government and the International

Committee of the Red Cross. That Conference allowed for

a reaffirmation of the provisions of the major treaties of

international humanitarian law aimed at the protection of

populations during armed conflicts and for sensitizing public

opinion concerning the valid bases of those provisions and

the plight of civilian victims.

Concerning Angola, progress made at the outset in the

application of the Bicesse peace agreements in May 1991

now needs to be maintained, and efforts must be made and

encouraged, both in the Security Council and in African

forums, for the achievement of a just and lasting peace.

Côte d’Ivoire knows only two paths for the settlement

of conflicts: resort to force or resort to negotiation, that is

to say, dialogue. Recent events in the international arena

have consecrated the value of dialogue, which has always

been advocated by President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, for

the peaceful settlement of all conflicts. They clearly indicate

how dialogue, conducted by responsible individuals, can,

regardless of the nature of the conflict, serve as an extremely

useful instrument for peace.

In South Africa, the recent developments in the political

situation are most encouraging, despite the uncertainties of

the moment resulting from the escalation of violence. For

this reason we welcome with satisfaction the joint statement

of the political parties of South Africa concerning their

intention to organize free and democratic elections in April

1994. We also welcome the establishment of an executive

transition council that, for the first time in three centuries of

white domination, after the first multiracial elections will

involve the black majority in political matters.

30 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

We send out an urgent appeal to those elements

opposed to democratic changes in South Africa to refrain

from acts likely to jeopardize the sensitive negotiation

process, which would delay South Africa’s return to the

family of nations. We welcome the new spirit inspiring the

South African leaders, particularly Mr. De Klerk and Mr.

Mandela, a spirit that led to the historic request made by the

African National Congress (ANC) to the international

community to lift the economic and diplomatic sanctions

slapped on South Africa. We also welcome the agreement

reached between the South African and Namibian

Governments concerning the transfer of the port of Walvis

Bay and the surrounding islands to the jurisdiction of the

Namibian Government.

In the Middle East we can finally discern, after so

many years of war and built-up hatred, the prospect of a

settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The mutual

recognition of Israel and the Palestine Liberation

Organization (PLO) and the signing in Washington on 13

September of the historic agreement on Gaza and Jericho

convince us that the process begun in the Middle East is

now irreversible, despite the obstacles that might arise on the

road to peace.

This is the moment to hail the courage, lucidity and

self-abnegation of the high Israeli and Palestinian officials

who have risen above circumstances and resolutely chosen

peace. Their ardour in working for peace after such a

lengthy period of war has been recognized and saluted by

the international community. It is quite fitting that the

members of the jury for the Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize,

established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization, unanimously awarded the Prize for

1993 to those illustrious leaders of Israel and Palestine.

As for the situation in the Gulf, where peace is still

precarious, we reiterate our unswerving support for the full

implementation of all resolutions on this conflict, particularly

Security Council resolution 687 (1991) of 3 April 1991, as

well as resolution 833 (1993). We call on the parties

concerned to respect these provisions. We believe that this

resolution is a major asset in assuring security and stability

in the region.

In Asia, we welcome the outcome of the conflict in

Cambodia, where the United Nations undertook one of the

most ambitious and complex peace-keeping operations it had

ever conducted. We congratulate the members of the United

Nations Secretariat and the States that supplied various

contingents for the success of this operation, which allows

world public opinion fully to appreciate this other activity of

the United Nations which is too often ignored.

If the conflicts born of the cold war are now beginning

to find solutions, it is none the less clear that we have

entered upon a period of uncertainty, questioning and

instability, with the re-emergence of a number of secondary

conflicts that had been effectively frozen or repressed during

the cold war and that are essentially of ethnic, tribal or

religious origin, as illustrated by the wrenching events in

Nagorny-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and the former Yugoslavia.

It is becoming clear as well that in today’s world there are

fewer and fewer identifiable enemies and more and more

problems that are very difficult to identify.

The United Nations remains the indispensable recourse

for confronting these conflicts. Here, we solemnly wish to

state our full support for the proposals of the Secretary-

General contained in "An Agenda for Peace".

The strengthening of preventive action by the United

Nations must prompt us to pursue the process of

restructuring and revitalization of its bodies to allow it to

cope with these new challenges. Given the dominant role of

the Security Council in peace-keeping and international

security, the question of equitable representation in that body

should allow for a lengthy reflection so as to find a solution

acceptable to all - in this case, the expansion of the Security

Council to accord with the growth in the number of our

Organization’s Members and in the complexity of the

problems submitted to it.

Such an expansion should be based on rigorous and

objective criteria which we need to define together, bearing

in mind the imperative need for effectiveness in the taking

and implementation of Security Council decisions. The

United Nations, as a reflection of universal values, cannot

stand outside the trend towards democratization which is

sweeping across the world.

The World Conference on Human Rights, held in

Vienna last June, was of pivotal importance, allowing for a

reaffirmation of human rights. If we can rightly be gratified

by the fact that this Conference recognized the right to

development as a fundamental human right to the disastrous

economic situation in numerous regions of the world, and

particularly in Africa, should remind us here of the need for

a general awareness of the fact that human rights cannot

flourish in a context of poverty and misery.

In looking back over the economic situation, we note

that global economic activity in 1992 was characterized by

a slow recovery, growing by only 1.1 per cent. This weak

recovery is primarily the result of a moderate growth in the

global production of the industrialized countries, as well as

a noticeable drop in the total production of those countries

which formerly had planned economies. Unfortunately,

these trends continued in 1993, and thus we are seeing a rise

in unemployment and the emergence of serious social

tensions throughout the world.

These not very optimistic elements observed in the

industrialized countries can only have negative consequences

for other countries, particularly those of the developing

world, among which the African countries remain the most

vulnerable.

We can therefore hardly be surprised that in the last

United Nations Development Programme report on human

development in 173 countries, 41 of the 53 African countries

are among the 50 last countries in the classification. These

pessimistic conclusions were reaffirmed in the reports of the

World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

We are aware of the causes of this serious recession.

Aside from the drop in economic activities in numerous

industrialized countries, those causes are the collapse of

commodity prices - for minerals, mining and agriculture -

and the subsequent exacerbation of the foreign-debt burden

on our economies, which in turn limits our investment

capability. Additional causes that should be noted are the

general inadequacies in economic management as described

in the World Bank study entitled "The African Capacity-

Building Initiative". All these factors taken together have

led to the present crisis in our countries, manifested above

all by a drastic drop in economic growth and an intolerable

rise in unemployment, particularly among our young people

- the driving force of our countries.

The image this brief sketch of the African economic

and social climate projects is hardly encouraging. In the

face of such a situation, we believe that prospects for seeing

the advocated solutions succeed lie primarily in a consistent

approach to them.

Our States have had the political courage to embark

upon deep-rooted economic reforms and our peoples have

progressively become aware of the need for the adjustment

effort. Thus in Côte d’Ivoire, for several years now, we

have been implementing a set of measures of economic

policy aimed at creating the conditions for economic

recovery. The stabilization phase of this process has

primarily tended towards putting our public finances on a

sounder footing, which is basic to the revival of our

economy and its integration into a larger collective within

the region and throughout the continent.

The extension of the democratic process in Africa is

evident. But it is also clear that there can be no democracy

without economic development, nor genuine sustainable

development without democracy. One of the primary

conditions of this development for our countries is just

remuneration in primary commodities - mineral, mining and

agricultural.

Statistics show that Africa represents only 2 per cent of

the value of world trade, and that inter-African trade

represents only 5 per cent of the value of the region’s total

external trade. These data remind us once again of the

economic urgency for Africa to achieve genuine economic

integration within the continent.

In West Africa, this exercise has already begun, in

particular within the Economic Community of West African

States (ECOWAS), whose treaty has just been revised, and

above all within the West African Monetary Union

(WAMU), with the upcoming establishment of the West

African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

From our point of view, such an exercise in structuring

and harmonizing the institutional and legal framework of

economic integration should be carried out and should

rapidly be extended to all regions of Africa in order to pave

the way for the building of the African Common Market,

which we all so wish to see.

It is also appropriate to note the great hopes we place

on the establishment of the African Import-Export Bank,

whose primary objectives will be to increase the level of

African exports and of inter-African trade. We should also

note the significant progress made in laying the groundwork

for an expanded cooperation between our States in several

areas, such as those of business law, the insurance industry,

and the establishment of a body for regional statistics.

We wish here particularly to emphasize the extremely

important role played in the area of financing by the African

Development Bank in implementing the objectives of

integration in Africa. We must hail the will this institution

demonstrates in its efforts to establish positive correlations

between actions implemented within the framework of

structural adjustment programmes and the objectives of

regional economic integration. This step by the African

Development Bank affects the central elements of the

development strategies of African countries.

32 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

It goes without saying that such integration can be

implemented only in an environment which is one of peace,

stability and security. We therefore welcomed the creation,

within the OAU and ECOWAS, of machinery for the

prevention, management and settlement of conflicts.

We must recognize that our efforts at regional

integration will remain futile as long as the global economic

environment remains unfavourable and as long as our

partners in the developed countries lack the necessary

political will resolutely to tackle our countries’ problems in

this interdependent world of solidarity.

At a time when the marginalization of Africa is

increasing, we welcome the positive initiative of the

Government of Japan to hold, several days from now in

Tokyo, the International Conference on African

Development, which will allow the developed countries to

better grasp the specific problems of Africa.

We must acknowledge, however, that any assistance

offered by the international community will be only a small

contribution, given the magnitude of the development needs

of the African continent. This assistance will be effective

only if consistent and lasting solutions are found to our

problems within the framework of an international

cooperation even further based on interdependence and

solidarity, in particular in the areas of international trade,

foreign debt, the environment, the war on drugs, and the

important question of raw materials, to avoid confining our

countries to the exclusive role of purveyors of raw materials

and allow them also, through the transformation of these

products, to become consumers in trade relations.

More specifically, the Rio Conference, by adopting

Agenda 21, reached a consensus on the planetary level

concerning the need for immediate and bold international

cooperation in the area of sustainable development and the

environment. In applying Agenda 21, Côte d’Ivoire, for its

part, has established regional environmental committees to

draw up its white book on the environment, which will help

it zero in on the objectives laid down in the Agenda.

In this context, the elaboration of an international

convention on the struggle against desertification is of

critical importance for Africa, and we continue to place our

hopes in the work of the Intergovernmental Negotiating

Committee on that convention.

Ultimately, given the importance and complexity of the

areas affecting the question of the environment, it is

indispensable for the international community to openly

support the development efforts of the African countries by

granting them adequate financial resources and by helping

them strengthen their scientific and technical capacities.

Concerning the question of drugs and its financial

ramifications, the gravity of these issues requires that the

international community give them serious thought. The

most recent studies of this phenomenon indicate that Africa

has become one of the major centres for this illegal traffic.

At the same time, we note that local consumption of hard

drugs, in particular heroin and cocaine, are notably

increasing in numerous African countries.

This represents, therefore, a global scourge against

which individual States are doomed from the outset, for the

ravages of drugs spare no continent and no country,

regardless of how powerful they may be.

Africa is the weak link from which the international

drug trade profits. Thus, given the extreme vulnerability and

the precarious nature of the means available to the African

continent to combat this danger, the international community

should supply - specifically through the United Nations Drug

Control Programme, with which my country is fruitfully

cooperating - the needed financial resources.

Since the end of the bipolar war, history has speeded

up. We are the privileged witnesses of political events of

the highest importance, events that will shape international

relations along the lines of a rapprochement among nations

and will therefore contribute to the strengthening of peace

and global security, essential foundations for the building of

a more just world order and one of greater solidarity.

However, despite the dynamics of peace, which promise

better tomorrows, we must admit that the ideas of peace and

security can no longer be limited solely to the political field,

for the truth is that peace and security can be genuine only

if economic development and social progress are ensured for

all.

The effective globalization of the economy as well as

the ever-increasing interdependence of nations today requires

also an acceleration of history on the level of international

economic relations, for the world must become aware of the

fact that there can be no lasting peace, no universal

prosperity, if the greatest part of humankind is on the

sidelines of economic development and social well-being.

In such a context, therefore, the North-South dialogue

must be reactivated with the goal of seeing that further

means are established to eradicate underdevelopment and

poverty, which today represent the greatest threat of our era.

For peace does not coexist well with poverty, as President

Felix Houphouët-Boigny often says.

The capability of the international community to grasp

this danger and to find rapid and lasting solutions will

determine our joint survival.