Comoros, 1993

In addressing this Assembly for the first time, I

am pleased to extend to you, Sir, the congratulations of the

delegation of the Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros,

which I have the honour to head, on your outstanding

election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its

forty-eighth session. In our view, your moral and

intellectual qualities and your extensive experience in

international affairs are clear guarantees of the success of

our work. I assure you that my delegation is fully prepared

to assist you as you undertake your noble mission.

I should like to join those representatives who have

congratulated your predecessor, Mr. Stoyan Ganev of

Bulgaria, on his effective leadership of the Assembly during

its forty-seventh session.

Let me take this opportunity also to express a warm

welcome to the new States Members of the Organization.

The multifaceted action of the United Nations over the

numerous years of its existence has given us a true

appreciation of the institution’s major role, as well as of the

worth of the men who, during that time, have borne the

responsibility for it. This is why my delegation expresses

satisfaction at seeing Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali at the head

of the Organization. We pay a resounding tribute to him for

his dedication and determination to work for peace and the

well-being of mankind.

Forty-eight years after its creation, and despite a

particularly difficult international situation, our Organization

is still struggling to discharge properly the lofty and onerous

mission entrusted to it. Equally, with the passage of time,

its activity has escalated and become more diversified.

Unfortunately, we are today obliged to note that the United

Nations is increasingly confronted by enormous financial

difficulties, which hamper its proper functioning. The

financial crisis that it is experiencing stems primarily from

the crushing imbalance between its various tasks and its

scanty financial means.

Thus, in the area of peace-keeping, the United Nations

is responsible for numerous rather costly operations, while,

in several regions of the world, hotbeds of tension and

increasing instability seem to presage other difficult

situations that are likely to transcend the boundaries of the

Organization’s ordinary or traditional role. The task is huge,

and we must not remain passive in the face of such

suffering. It is therefore up to all Member States to

contribute effectively to securing an improvement in the

Organization’s peace-keeping system.

While, within the framework of the work of this forty-

eighth session, we are still reviewing a multitude of

problems to which we must find solutions, let us recognize

that the session does have the advantage of being held at a

time when, for the first time in more than 40 years, we are

seeing encouraging and promising results with regard to the

developments in respect of the problem of Palestine.

The Government of the Comoros would like, through

me, to congratulate the signatories of the Washington

agreement. It provides grounds for hope that this mutual

recognition and the autonomy of certain territories represent

an unquestionable guarantee of the establishment of a

sovereign and independent Palestinian State, so that this part

of the world, which for so long has been disrupted by war,

can finally experience peace and stability. We pay a well-

deserved tribute to the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation

Organization for his perseverance in defending the rights of

the brotherly Palestinian people, whose just struggle we have

always supported.

In the same context, my country has great hopes for the

negotiations between the South African authorities and the

representatives of the black majority. My country sincerely

hopes that these negotiations will culminate in the

establishment of a truly united, multiracial and democratic

South African society.

It is clear that action by the various United Nations

authorities has made a considerable contribution to

strengthening the credibility of our Organization and the

confidence the international community has in it. On the

other hand, the rebirth of democracy in Eastern Europe, the

opening up of Africa to a multiparty system and the

relaxation of tensions among the super-Powers are also

factors which should give us hope for a better world. But

how can we not be concerned or doubtful when in some

parts of the world there are still hotbeds of tension and

fratricidal wars? In fact, the deterioration of the situation in

Somalia, with all its consequences, in particular the mass

displacement of the population and the murder of those who

are defending peace, calls for ever greater vigilance and

solidarity on our part. It is time for the international

community to take effective action with a view to the

holding of a conference of national reconciliation to put an

end to this war. It is also crucial that States and

international organizations continue to render their valuable

assistance to these peoples, who are in dire need.

With regard to Africa, I am concerned about our

neighbours in Mozambique, in Angola, in Liberia and in all

of these countries where human dignity and conscience are

being jeopardized, where, unfortunately, dialogue is yielding

to force and violence. The Federal Islamic Republic of the

Comoros is launching a fraternal appeal to these countries to

consider the consequences of these wars for the future of

their peoples and of Africa as a whole, and hopes that reason

will finally prevail.

Moreover, we are still deeply concerned at the present

situation in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The

external aggression perpetrated against this independent and

sovereign State requires that our Organization, and in

particular the Security Council, the major organ responsible

for the maintenance of peace, take the necessary action to

save that country. We fully support the resolutions of the

Security Council concerning this problem, in particular

resolution 859 (1993), in which it called

"for an immediate cease-fire and cessation of hostilities

throughout the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina as

essential for achieving a just and equitable political

solution to the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina

through peaceful negotiations".

On the other hand, the Federal Islamic Republic of the

Comoros is supporting the efforts of our Organization to find

a lasting solution to the Korean problem. My country urges

the parties involved to implement measures to facilitate the

reunification of this country, whose people have suffered for

so long from being divided.

Environmental problems are a concern of the

international community, which is aware of the adverse

consequences of the destruction of the ozone layer and the

deterioration of the ecological milieu. It is in this spirit that

our States are adopting strategies and policies aimed at

safeguarding the environment. Convinced that one cannot

separate the environment from development, our

Governments must establish procedures and devise national

frameworks which will give priority to sustainable

development, in accordance with the recommendations of the

Rio Conference. Along these lines, the Federal Islamic

Republic of the Comoros, with a view to combating the

problems of pollution, deforestation and the destruction of

natural species, has given priority in its development plan to

the preservation of the environment and its natural resources.

Another area to which we should devote specific

interest is that of human rights. By the adoption of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December 1948,

the international community, through the General Assembly

of our Organization, for the first time in the history of

mankind, shouldered the permanent responsibility of

publicizing and championing human rights. Today more

than ever before, we continue to have confidence in our

Organization, which has always known how to stress the

concept of fundamental human rights and freedoms and has

made ensuring them one of its fundamental goals. It is

therefore important for the United Nations to give priority to

human rights programmes. There is also a need, within the

framework of national policy, to implement and create

institutional conditions that would guarantee respect for

human dignity.

The World Conference on Human Rights, held recently

in Vienna, Austria, allowed the international community to

Forty-eighth session - 8 October l993 3

reaffirm its unswerving dedication to respect for inalienable

human rights. However, it is our Organization that must see

to the implementation of the Vienna recommendations.

We cannot separate the concept of human rights from

the concept of democracy, for we cannot conceive of a

democracy that would ignore or fail to guarantee human

rights and freedoms. This is why our Organization should

show particular interest in the changes taking place

throughout the world, changes which are, inter alia, reflected

in the collapse of dictatorships and the emergence of

democratic political regimes. The United Nations must

encourage and support actions aimed at advancing the

democratic process.

As members are aware, the wind of freedom and

democracy that has wafted through the world has spared no

continent. Thus, in the Federal Islamic Republic of the

Comoros, the time has come for democracy and a multiparty

system. We have engaged in a revision of our Constitution

in order to adapt it to the realities of today’s world, with the

active participation of all national political movements. We

are moving towards legislative and regional elections to give

the country all the institutions required by a State of law.

You will agree with me, Mr. President, that this

transitional stage of our young democracy is difficult. We

are, however, aware that it must be passed through in order

to achieve a harmonization of the democratic process as a

whole. The Government of the Islamic Federal Republic of

the Comoros, concerned for the well-being of its people, is

sparing no effort to create conditions which promote respect

for human dignity and the maintenance of political and

social stability in the country.

Such an undertaking requires the assistance of peace-

and progress-loving countries and organizations, to help our

country effectively manage these freedoms, and to place our

young democracy on a solid foundation.

We cannot close this political chapter without recalling

another problem, a non-violent one, certainly but no less

important: that of the Comorian island of Mayotte. This

question will be the subject of a debate in the Assembly, as

it is at each of our regular sessions. That is why I will spare

the Assembly a list of the facts behind this thorny issue.

But I express again the full readiness of the Government of

His Excellency

Mr. Said Mohamed Djohar and the Comorian people to give

the highest priority to dialogue and concerted action to

resolve this regrettable dispute which we have had with

France since we attained our sovereignty.

There is no need to emphasize that the new

international political landscape at the end of the century

makes the interdependence of peoples and the solidarity of

nations the irreplaceable and only means by which we can

guarantee the economic and social development of our

States.

Unfortunately, international economic relations are still

marked by the bipolar attitude responsible for the growing

gap between rich and poor countries. We must now change

this attitude - an outcome of the cold war - as a result of

which the rich have been becoming even richer and the poor

even poorer, and create harmonious conditions for global

economic relations. We believe in the ideals of peace and

security, but we are firmly convinced that they cannot be

fully achieved if famine, malnutrition, disease and natural

disasters continue to be the lot of the majority of the States

which make up the international community.

The future of the developing countries continues to be

a priority of the various specialized institutions of our

Organization, but the failure of various development

programmes and strategies initiated in our respective

countries is no secret. That fact compels us to give thought

together to ways and means to relaunch a different type of

development, of which our Organization must be the

catalyst.

The advent of a new economic world order is more

likely today than yesterday, despite a crisis that is weakening

the financial Powers, de facto reducing their capacity to give

development assistance. We understand the new obligations

of the big Powers, faced with unemployment, reduced

productivity and the need to support the new States born of

the fragmentation of the eastern bloc. But it is up to them

to give a new impetus to vertical cooperation, in order to

enable the countries of the South to extricate themselves

from chaos.

In that spirit, the developing countries have indeed

learned the lesson that they must rely on themselves first and

foremost. This is why, from Africa to the Orient, structures

are emerging whose objective is to assure regional economic

integration. The establishment of the African Economic

Community will meet Africa’s need for an instrument for

functional cooperation which can harmonize development

and cooperation between the States of this continent, the

breadbasket of the world.

For the Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros,

cooperation with the developing countries is an essential

element in such cooperative relations. My country is one of

those which are convinced that South-South cooperation can

4 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

be an important factor in rebalancing world economic

relations.

In its continuous development efforts the Islamic

Federal Republic of the Comoros is focusing on freeing and

restructuring development support institutions. In the spirit

of this impetus towards socio-economic recovery, we have

agreed with the International Monetary Fund and the World

Bank on a structural adjustment programme whose success

depends on the full and active support of the international

community.

As the century draws to a close, the world is

experiencing profound changes in the ideological, political,

economic, social, scientific and technical spheres. The

problems it is facing require consideration at the global level

from now on. International solidarity compels us to act in

greater cooperation in managing world affairs.

We have the instrument for this: the United Nations.

But we are among those who believe that if it is to be more

effective the Organization and its specialized agencies must

be transformed to adapt to the tremendous democratic

dynamism of the new international system. In order to give

the United Nations the political power for real decision-

making, the Security Council must genuinely represent the

world as it is today.