Dominican Republic, 1997

On behalf of the Dominican Republic and

its President Mr. Leonel Fernandez Reyna, I wish to

convey to our President our warmest congratulations on

his well deserved election to preside over this fifty-second

session of the General Assembly, at a time when the

Organization is taking important steps forward in its re-

structuring and modernization in order to meet the

challenges of peace and economic and social development

for our nations.

Our delegation pays tribute to the outgoing

President, His Excellency Mr. Razali Ismail, for his

outstanding conduct of the deliberations during the last

session of the General Assembly.

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We take this opportunity to express our gratitude to

the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his assiduity,

dedication and hard work in guiding the Organization down

a road of reform and modernization that will make it

stronger for the new millennium.

While remaining faithful to the purposes and principles

set forth in the Charter — the maintenance of international

peace and security, cooperation for economic, social and

cultural development, defence of human rights, and

humanitarian assistance — the United Nations should also

promote and pursue a reform process which takes into

account the many changes that have taken place in a

complex international scene. That scene is marked by the

end of ideological confrontations and, at the same time, by

increasing levels of poverty and ethnic and religious

tension, phenomena that pose a threat to our supreme

objectives of peace and development for our peoples.

The trend within the Organization in recent years to

the establishment of working groups, as well as the report

of the Secretary-General entitled “Renewing the United

Nations: A Programme for Reform”, reflect the strong

resolve of Member States to engage in a negotiation and

consultation process that could, once their distrust of the

past is overcome, culminate in far-reaching changes in the

various United Nations bodies. The Dominican Republic

attaches special importance to the ongoing reform process,

given that it is capable, while respecting the principles and

purposes that gave birth to the Organization, of ensuring a

more democratic, transparent, representative and efficient

system capable of facing the current challenges, especially

those of peace and the problems of poverty that affect the

peoples of the world.

In this regard, the strengthening of the General

Assembly, the main forum in which Member States are

represented, cannot be postponed. It is imperative to

promote a process of better coordination between the

Assembly and the Security Council, so that the Assembly

can be properly informed, and hence make better

recommendations to the Security Council.

Aware of the need to strengthen the United Nations,

the Dominican Republic calls on this forum to adopt

resolutions that can return to the Assembly its capacity as

the governing body of the Organization. In this regard, we

welcome the proposals of the Secretary-General designed to

focus the work of the Assembly on the highest-priority

issues and to reduce the duration of its sessions as well as

the number of agenda items, so as to allow for their in-

depth study.

This reorientation should not interfere with the

principle of sovereign equality, nor with the plural and

universal character that the Organization has maintained

over the more than half a century of its existence.

Reaffirmation of the democratic principles contained in

the Charter must constitute the basis for the current

reform process.

The Dominican Republic proposes the establishment

of mechanisms and working methods that would enable

the Assembly to allow reasonable time for making

progress on resolving certain conflicts. The problems of

peace, security and development are multiple and

complex. However, the commitment of the international

community expressed in the United Nations should go

beyond merely recalling them each year.

The aspect of the reform of the Organization that has

raised the greatest debate is the one relating to the

restructuring and enlargement of the Security Council.

Our country hopes that these reforms will promote greater

participation by the membership as a whole. Thus, with

a more democratic base and a just and equitable selection

process, the Council would be in a better position to meet

its purposes and objectives. In this regard, the Dominican

Republic proposes the expansion of the Security Council

from the current 15 to 25 members. This represents less

than 14 per cent of the total number of United Nations

Member States, whereas in 1945 the figure was slightly

above 20 per cent.

The Dominican Republic, a founding member of the

United Nations, has not yet been a member of the

Security Council. In this new phase of its international

relations it has a strong interest in participating actively

in bodies such as the Security Council and thus making

a direct contribution to the maintenance of peace, on

which depends the very existence of nations.

An encouraging sign in the proposal of the

Secretary-General is that the reforms are constantly

related to the achievement of the founding principles of

the Organization, as expressed in the Charter. Thus, the

results of reform will be assessed primarily not on the

basis of the relationship of costs to benefits, but rather on

how they facilitate the realization of the Organization’s

objectives.

Our country supports the restructuring of the

Organization as long as it promotes more transparent,

clearer and more coherent mandates and is directed

towards finding lasting solutions to the problems of

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hunger, underdevelopment, extreme poverty and social

injustice, not forgetting the mandates related to

peacekeeping.

Allow me to refer to the issue of development. The

increase in global poverty and the gap between rich and

poor countries is today the crucial problem for the

international community. Poverty has a negative impact on

progress with regard to peace and security, human rights

and the strengthening of democratic systems. We must

address forthwith the challenge posed by the tremendous

economic and social instability of a large number of

countries.

The Dominican delegation associates itself with the

declarations of the Group of 77 adopted in July of this year,

at the twenty-second meeting of the group coordinators,

because we support strengthening the role of the United

Nations in promoting international cooperation for social

and economic development. And we are in favour of

measures that will promote the formulation and

coordination of policies and the provision of technical

assistance to developing countries.

Our country is making serious efforts to position itself

favourably in the world economy and to prepare for

globalization. For this purpose, it is currently conducting

major economic, monetary, tariff and judicial reforms,

while at the same time negotiating free-trade agreements

with countries of the region. Also, together with other

countries, it is formulating strategies to take advantage of

funds from multilateral sources.

The achievements of regional groups such as the

Central American Common Market, the Caribbean

Community (CARICOM), the Andean Group and the

Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR), among

others, are indications of the strong willingness of the

Member States to expand their capacities and reduce the

negative impact that the new rules of international trade

have on our economies and societies.

Aware of the commitment to promote at the regional

level mechanisms for improving economic growth and

combating poverty, the Dominican Republic has in the past

year strengthened its relations with the countries of

CARICOM and Central America, primarily through the

participation of our President in the meetings of heads of

State and Government. We are pleased to announce that our

country will host the next summit meeting of Central

America, Belize and the Dominican Republic and that

negotiations for the establishment of a free-trade area

between CARICOM and the Dominican Republic should

be concluded by the end of this year.

At this time allow me to welcome very

enthusiastically the initiatives of the group of Central

American countries designed to strengthen Central

American unity. It is precisely these efforts that have

given us faith and confidence in the future of our peoples.

During this year, the Dominican Republic has

developed a programme for strengthening our links with

our neighbouring country, Haiti. For the first time, bi-

national joint commissions are crossing the border to find,

through dialogue, areas of mutual interest and solutions to

some of the problems common to both countries.

Regarding our sister Republic of Haiti, we insist on

the need for the international community to discharge

effectively the economic commitment it made in 1994

with regard to Haiti’s economic recovery and

development. The peacekeeping efforts in Haiti, which we

have promoted in the United Nations, will not be

sufficient to achieve democratic stability unless they are

accompanied by resources directed to alleviating the great

economic and social problems affecting that nation.

We must again emphasize how external debt is

weighing down our economies. The onerous costs of

debt-servicing hinder our investing more in our peoples,

thus deepening the levels of poverty. For the Dominican

Republic, the payment of outstanding debts and the

interest on them represents nearly 20 per cent of the

national budget. As a means of promoting development

and social investment projects to combat poverty, we wish

to propose to this Assembly that it take the necessary

actions to reduce the burden of the external debt in those

developing countries that have demonstrated a high level

of responsibility in handling their debt.

We reiterate the commitment of the United Nations

to develop efficient measures for the struggle against

poverty. Along with peacekeeping, development

cooperation must constitute an overarching goal of the

Organization. No financing of activities for peacekeeping,

the defence of human rights or humanitarian actions will

be sufficient if we do not act responsibly in undertaking

multilateral cooperation for development.

The proposal to unify the various programmes of the

United Nations devoted to development seems to us to be

a very important step towards the effective coordination

of intersectoral policies, concentrating strategies and

25

development operations in a United Nations Development

Group. These initiatives must reorient resources toward

areas of priority and achieve better coordination with

international funding organizations.

Allow me to express the position of my country

regarding the evolution of the international situation. Peace

is still among the highest aspiration of our peoples.

Different points of the planet are currently involved in

bloody conflicts which affect common citizens. Security is

today not only a matter of the survival of political regimes,

but is linked to the very existence of human beings and

nature.

The Dominican Republic expresses its solidarity with

the many conventions of the international community

devoted to eradicating corruption, terrorism, drug trafficking

and money laundering. These evils disrupt the lives of our

peoples, erode our institutions and prevent the strengthening

of democracy.

We reiterate our conviction regarding the defence of

democratic principles and institutionality. In this regard, my

country is making tremendous efforts to reform and

modernize the State and the judicial system. Establishing

means of promoting a transparent public administration,

controlling all forms of administrative corruption, is among

the ongoing processes in our nation. Dialogue and the

search for consensus among the branches of the State and

between the executive branch and civil society have become

the polestar of public administration of the Dominican

Government.

The Dominican Republic welcomes and associates

itself with the measures taken by the United Nations to

extend the presence of the peacekeeping forces in Haiti.

Their presence, we believe, strengthens the possibilities for

democratic stability and will allow the people to take sure

steps on the road towards consolidating the country’s

democracy.

We stress the need for a definitive and peaceful

solution to the conflict in the Balkans, and we call upon the

international community to strengthen its efforts to achieve

peace in the Middle East. The crisis in that region, which

has deteriorated in recent months, demands special

attention. We call for respect for all the agreements signed

in recent years in order to restore peace in the region.

With regard to the Republic of China on Taiwan, the

Dominican Republic reiterates its position as presented by

our President, Dr. Leonel Fernandez Reyna, regarding the

need for the international community to consider the

importance of that country, owing to its geographical

location and given the fact that security and stability are

of great significance for the peace and prosperity of the

region. We call for a constructive dialogue between the

two sides of the Strait of Taiwan in search of mutual

understanding and cooperation. We reiterate that parallel

participation of both countries in the United Nations

would contribute to the maintenance of peace.

Our country supports the efforts under way in

various international conferences in Brussels, Oslo, and

very soon in Ottawa, regarding the process to achieve a

total ban an anti-personnel landmines. The commitment

to peace is a commitment to life. The international

community has an obligation to promote peace and to

defend life in all situations and circumstances.

The Dominican Republic, traditionally a peace-

oriented nation, does not produce or consume nuclear

energy for military purposes; it utilizes such energy for

peaceful purposes. In this spirit, the Dominican President

signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

during his visit to the United Nations last year.

Various international conferences are currently

discussing conventions on the use of nuclear energy. One

of them is the convention to regulate the harm caused to

persons and the environment by radioactive waste. The

Dominican Republic depends to a large extent on tourism,

a tourism of beaches and sun. The quality of our coastal

waters is vital for the sector’s development, and any

international radioactivity-related damage can mean the

collapse of this important sector of our economy. We

appeal to the good judgement of the international

community to preserve our natural resources.

We reaffirm our commitment to the protection of the

environment and natural resources. In this spirit, our

country has acceded to the United Nations International

Convention to Combat Desertification.

The Dominican Republic reiterates its commitment

to defending and protecting human rights. In this

connection, it welcomes the efforts made by the United

Nations to concentrate the activities of the Office of the

High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Centre for

Human Rights. During this year we have had the

satisfaction of receiving two international missions on

human rights, invited by our Government. A High-Level

Mission of the Inter-American Committee on Human

Rights (ICHR), of the Organization of American States,

26

visited the country in June, and a mission of the Committee

of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and

Cultural Rights of the United Nations, with headquarters in

Geneva, is in the country at this very moment. These visits

indicate the Government’s interest in ensuring transparency

of action to defend and protect human rights in the

Dominican Republic.

Allow me to refer to the situation of the United

Nations International Research and Training Institute for the

Advancement of Women. Our country wishes to reiterate

the mandate given in Economic and Social Council

resolution 1979/11 of 9 May 1979, in which it is clearly

and explicitly stated that the headquarters of the Institute

would be established in the Dominican Republic, a

developing country.

The objectives that led to the creation of the Institute

are still valid today. Research and training for the purpose

of creating new ways for women to contribute to the

development of their countries, in the light of women’s

needs, are a priority. This concern was manifested at the

Beijing Conference of 1995 and in the Platform for Action

to follow up the agreements reached in that important

forum.

In order to cooperate with the United Nations, the

Dominican Government not only donated the building

housing the Institute but also invested large amounts of

money to renovate the building and adapt it to the

Institute’s needs. This explains our surprise when, in 1993,

the United Nations Secretariat proposed the merger of the

Institute and the United Nations Development Fund for

Women (UNIFEM), without prior consultation with our

Government and ignoring the headquarters agreement.

However, in 1995 the Fourth World Conference on

Women, in its Beijing Platform for Action, confirmed the

Institute’s mandate.

We hope that in the process of United Nations reform

all the mandates approved by the Member States will be

equally respected, since these States bear sole responsibility

for renewing or changing decisions adopted by the General

Assembly.

Lastly, we welcome the summoning of Member States

to reflect on and endorse these transformations in our world

Organization. The Assembly of the millennium proposed to

us for the year 2000 would be an unprecedented forum for

evaluating what we have done on the road to these reforms

and for reiterating our tremendous faith and trust in the

future of the generations of the twenty-first century.

At this fifty-second session of the General Assembly

we are faced with the historic responsibility of giving

greater reality to our hopes and expectations for a better

future for humankind. The changes in those realities are

taking place faster than the changes in the structures we

have given ourselves for dealing with them. We have a

unique opportunity to ensure that the reforms of the

Organization respond to the expectations of a United

Nations that is in line with the needs of the new age.