Ethiopia, 1997

I wish first of all to

congratulate you, Sir, on your unanimous election as

President of the General Assembly at its fifty-second

session. There is no doubt that your election to this high

position is an acknowledgment of your personal competence

and of the commitment of your country, Ukraine, to the

United Nations and to the principles enshrined in its

Charter.

I also wish to pay tribute to your predecessor,

Ambassador Razali, who discharged his responsibilities

with great wisdom and dedication.

Our appreciation also goes to the Secretary-General,

Mr. Kofi Annan, for the great efforts he is making to

ensure the revitalization of the United Nations. In his

report (A/51/950) to the Assembly entitled “Renewing the

United Nations: A Programme for Reform”, the

Secretary-General has proposed measures that Member

States may take to democratize the United Nations and to

enhance its effectiveness as an instrument with which to

deal with the challenges facing us as we enter the twenty-

first century. I wish to assure the Secretary-General of

Ethiopia’s full support for his initiative.

Ethiopia strongly believes that the reform and

expansion of the Security Council, which is long overdue,

is at the heart of the United Nations reform process.

Broad consensus has been established that the reform and

expansion of the Council must reflect the realities of the

world we live in today. The African position on the issue

was articulated at the thirty-third Summit of the Heads of

State or Government of the member States of the

Organization of African Unity, held in Harare in June this

year. Ethiopia fully supports the African position.

This annual occasion affords us the opportunity to

reiterate our commitment to the United Nations, to what

it represents and to all efforts designed to address our

common challenges.

For obvious reasons, some of the common dangers we

have faced have receded. The cold war, which by

common consensus represented a threat to the very

survival of humanity, is more or less behind us. There

should therefore be far greater opportunity today for

effective international cooperation in many spheres, and

especially for real and tangible steps towards the

realization of genuine partnership in the fight against

poverty and to enable those determined to remove the

obstacles to their development to achieve their goals and

fulfil the dreams and the hopes of their peoples.

Peace and security can hardly be made durable and

sustainable when conditions faced by the majority of

12

peoples in the developing countries generate hopelessness

and when deprivations suffered today are made all the more

painful because existing trends, instead of providing

consolation, promise more of the same, or worse. There is

no more appropriate time than now, when we are preparing

to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, to renew our commitment

and to rededicate ourselves to the realization of full respect

of human rights in all their dimensions — civil, political,

economic and social rights, including the right to

development and to be free from the shackles of poverty.

For Ethiopia, the eradication of poverty and the

promotion of human rights are the cornerstones of the

country’s development strategies and democratic reforms.

In the immediate human rights programme, the Federal

Parliament plans to establish, as stipulated in the Ethiopian

Federal Constitution, a national human rights commission

and an ombudsman early next year.

I wish to take this opportunity to bring to the attention

of this Assembly the fact that leading members of the

repressive military regime that ruled Ethiopia in the 1970s

and 1980s are being tried for war crimes and crimes against

humanity. These public trials are the biggest since

Nuremberg. However, Ethiopian courts have been denied

the opportunity to bring to justice all the perpetrators of

these crimes because many of those who should be tried in

Ethiopia are given safe haven in other countries, in

contravention of the provisions of the Convention on the

Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. We

call on the States concerned to cooperate with Ethiopia and

to take appropriate measures, in accordance with

international humanitarian law, to ensure that those who are

responsible for crimes against humanity are brought to

justice.

International cooperation and the benefits that are

drawn from it, whether through bilateral or multilateral

means, cannot be a substitute for what individual countries

must do to ensure that sustainable development is achieved

and economic growth is realized. The responsibility to

extricate our countries from the miseries of poverty, in the

case of those of us to whom this applies, lies with us. Aid

alone, whatever its nature or quantity, would not do, even

if it were to be made available.

But it is critically important that the international

economic environment evolve towards providing an even

and level playing field, most particularly for those who, for

various reasons — whether on account of their own

mistakes or because of complex historical reasons, some of

which are not of their own making — have stayed behind

and have failed to put their countries on a track of

sustainable development.

In this regard, we cannot but admit that not enough

is being done, although much is said and promised. The

old divisions might have been consigned irrevocably to

the past, but we cannot pretend that, though we continue

to talk about our common humanity and the common

village we occupy, the other divisions in the world are

being addressed, let alone bridged. It would suffice just to

look at the situation of poverty in the world today and the

lukewarm effort to combat and to eradicate it

internationally. The prediction that the level of poverty

will continue to grow in Africa is a challenge to the

international community, as it is a reflection of the dire

condition of the continent.

The need to ensure food security for all should by

no means be an impossible task to achieve for the world

we live in. Here as well, individual countries facing this

problem have to assume their responsibility in the first

instance, but the international community should also

have a role to play, including in the fight against

corruption — a disease which, as we all realize, has an

international aspect in its grand dimension, and is

therefore not amenable to solutions taken at the national

level alone. We in Ethiopia have made important progress

over the last few years in building the basis for food

security for our peoples. But, as should be obvious, no

guarantee can be secured on food security as long as

production is totally dependent, as is the case in Ethiopia,

on rain-fed agriculture and when for a variety of reasons

the available water is not utilized for irrigation purposes.

It is in this connection that the equitable utilization

of transboundary rivers becomes an issue that should be

accorded the utmost urgency. Regional cooperation on

international rivers will remain impossible if calculations

based on a zero-sum outcome favouring one side or

another govern the attitude of parties that could otherwise

objectively benefit from even-handed cooperation. With

respect to the question of the Nile waters, which affects

Ethiopia directly and regarding which there has been no

effective cooperation among the riparians, we wish to call

on those involved to commit themselves to real and

genuine regional cooperation which is based on a win-win

perspective, ensuring outcomes that are fair, equitable and

just. A status quo which is unjust cannot endure; nor can

it serve as a basis for building genuine cooperation.

13

We are fully aware that at the level of the United

Nations, there have been a number of initiatives designed

to help address the economic and social problems faced by

developing countries and to mitigate the effects of poverty

and the impact of those conditions hindering the realization

of sustainable economic development. However, despite

good intentions, their practical implementation has always

been half-hearted and, at best, less than satisfactory and

therefore a source of disappointment. This applies to the

United Nations Programme of Action for the Least

Developed Countries for the 1990s, to the United Nations

New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s

(UN-NADAF) and to other initiatives. It is our hope that

the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa

will not meet a similar fate.

This should not be regarded as criticism aimed at the

United Nations. The Organization has no life and no

activity of its own independent of Member States. It is we

Member States that have not sufficiently seized the

opportunity opened up by the end of the cold-war division

of the world and the international tension engendered by

that state of affairs.

Not only within the United Nations but in general,

both in the bilateral and the multilateral areas, the

international cooperation being made available to the

developing world today is not commensurate with the

challenges faced by those countries, nor does it do justice

to the tremendous effort made by those countries, including

many in Africa, to make their economies business-friendly.

A growing number of countries on our continent,

including my own country, Ethiopia, have taken decisive

measures to liberalize their economies, to cut Government

spending, to institute sound macroeconomic policies and to

enhance the role of the private sector and civil society.

Because of these serious efforts at belt-tightening and

monetary and fiscal discipline, there have been some

encouraging developments over the past four years with

regard to economic growth in a number of African

countries, including Ethiopia. In my own country, for the

first time in more than two decades, the economy has

begun to grow, with a growth rate of over 10 per cent in

gross domestic product having been achieved in 1996. The

average rate of growth over the past five years has been

over 7 per cent.

In the area of governance and democratization, there

is little doubt that, despite some setbacks, we in Africa

seem to have made substantial progress over the past seven

or so years. These gains need to be consolidated and

enriched at a pace that can realistically be sustained, in

conformity with the principles of indigenous ownership.

On the other hand, it would be stating the obvious to

say that our economies have been slated to go on

operating in an international economic environment that

is hardly friendly to growth and sustainable development.

The obstacles are diverse, and they are the same ones as

we have been reiterating in gatherings such as this and

whenever other opportunities have presented themselves.

The challenges we face involve market opportunities for

our commodities, and they are also related to

protectionism, unfavourable terms of trade and the

difficulty associated with attracting a sufficient level of

foreign direct investment. But most of all the challenges

we face involve issues related to the debt overhang and to

debt-servicing obligations. If there is one major

impediment to the development of countries such as

Ethiopia, that impediment must be identified as the debt

overhang, which continues to necessitate the diversion of

so many resources from productive activities that could

otherwise have accelerated growth and development.

We cannot, of course, be oblivious to the many

proposals for debt relief and to the number of positive,

albeit inadequate, steps that have been taken in this

regard. We recognize and appreciate the efforts made by

the Group of 7, the latest being the steps taken and the

promises made at the Lyon Summit and since most

particularly the promise made in connection with debt-

relief measures for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

Debt.

But even then, we cannot ignore the irony and the

paradox we encounter with respect to debt relief. More

often than not, to qualify for some of these debt-relief

measures countries are expected to fulfil and meet

conditions that are not absorbable even by economies that

are far more advanced.

There is little doubt that one of the key prerequisites

for sustainable economic development is ownership of

one’s economic programme. However, the conditionalities

that accompany debt- relief measures have been

undermining ownership, thereby causing the loss of

possibilities of adopting policies based on a realistic and

appropriate assessment of local and specific conditions.

Thus, those condemned to a huge debt overhang which

has become unbearable are faced with a Hobson’s choice:

debt relief with renunciation of ownership, or ownership

with no relief.

14

What we need in this day and age are genuine

partnership and international cooperation based at least on

commitments to a level playing field and to conditions that

do not require those in the developing world to face

impossible choices. We are indeed hopeful that some of the

latest initiatives that countries are in the process of taking

bilaterally and the emerging trends encouraging renewed

focus on Africa, such as the ministerial-level meeting of the

Security Council convened last week, will help to increase

the international community’s sensitivity to the development

challenges of Africa.

Genuine partnership is required to make sustainable

development a reality in Africa. We hope that the

Secretary-General next his report to the Security Council

and the General Assembly next February, will forward

concrete recommendations that would spare us a repetition

of past disappointments.

It may not always be appropriate to see an immediate

causal link between poverty and lack of economic

development, on the one hand, and conflict and lack of

security, including terrorism, on the other. But there is little

doubt that the despair, hopelessness and malaise engendered

by poverty and economic and social difficulties provide the

fuel for ensuring the degeneration into all-out fratricidal

war of political frictions, whatever their sources, with

consequent social breakdown and the implosion of societies.

We have seen too many times that once societies have

imploded and State institutions have disintegrated, picking

up the pieces becomes extremely difficult and a nearly

impossible task. Look at Somalia.

But even so, Africa has made some progress. The

nightmare in Liberia is over, thanks to the immense

sacrifices made by the members of the Economic

Community of West African States (ECOWAS). New hope

is also generated by the demise of the Mobutu regime and

by the entry onto the scene of the Democratic Republic of

Congo, whose Government and people need the support and

the solidarity of the international community and of the

United Nations. Despite some setbacks in Burundi, the

countries of the region and the facilitator, Mwalimu Julius

Nyerere, continue to persevere in their efforts to help bring

about a resolution of the conflict in that country.

We are pleased and encouraged that the effort being

made by Mr. James Baker in Western Sahara is showing

some important progress, and we are hopeful that the day

may not be too far off when it will be possible to hold a

free and fair referendum in Western Sahara. I wish to

associate myself with the Secretary- General in

congratulating the parties to the conflict on the positive

results they have achieved so far towards finding a

durable solution to the conflict. In the same spirit, I

would like to call on them to continue direct dialogue and

to speed up the implementation of their agreements.

With respect to the situation in the Middle East, we

are profoundly disappointed with the increasing

complications that the peace process has encountered. It

is our ardent hope that the confidence which had emerged

earlier will be rekindled and that the troubled region will

find durable peace on the basis of justice for those to

whom it has been denied and security for all.

Apart from the conflict in southern Sudan, regarding

which the member States of the Intergovernmental

Authority on Development (IGAD) have continued to

provide their assistance for the peaceful resolution of the

problem and the reversals of the gains in Sierra Leone

and the Comoros, the major conflict in Africa which has

remained intractable is the one the people of Somalia are

facing. Here too, important progress has been made and

the opportunities for making a real breakthrough have

been created which the Somalis can ill afford to squander.

The framework for such a breakthrough has been made

possible by the creation of the National Salvation Council,

which is now preparing to hold a national reconciliation

conference soon.

We all recall how many resources were spent by the

United Nations for peace in Somalia. Now, with a small

fraction of the resources and the efforts deployed earlier

by the United Nations, the international community can

position itself to assist the realization of national

reconciliation and peace in that war-torn country. The

process of peacemaking in Somalia is at a very critical

juncture. The international community and the United

Nations should not keep their distance from the effort for

peace in Somalia.

The IGAD countries are determined to see to it that

this process succeeds. The support of the Organization of

African Unity and of our partners has been indispensable

in this exercise, particularly in connection with the effort

to ensure that those like Mr. Hussein Aideed are brought

on board the peace process. It is our firm view that no

one should be allowed to preempt and scuttle this process,

and the unequivocal support of the United Nations for the

ongoing peace process spearheaded by IGAD is indeed

critical at this stage.

15

We all recall how the proliferation of initiatives for

peace in Somalia created complications in the past and

how, as a result, it was difficult for the international

community to speak with one voice for peace in that

country. There is today a much improved situation which,

however, needs to be maintained and consolidated, for

which close coordination between the United Nations, OAU

and the IGAD countries is an absolute necessity.

Since the countries of the region have been made by

proximity to see no luxury in the continuing lack of central

authority in that country, they have chosen to work on the

basis of the maxim that a less than good Government is

better than none at all in Somalia. The consequence of the

absence of central authority in Somalia has been the growth

of forces, including from outside the region, bent on

ensuring that chaos is continued and even expanded in the

country and in the region — all the more reason, therefore,

for the United Nations and the international community to

do more to help the countries of the region and IGAD

succeed in the effort they are making for peace and national

reconciliation in Somalia.

In this regard, I wish to pay tribute to Secretary-

General Kofi Annan for the steps he has taken to revitalize

the United Nations role in Somalia and for the initiative he

has taken to find ways of maximizing the support of the

international community and of the United Nations for the

ongoing peace process in Somalia. It is our hope that the

steps that will be taken on the basis of the

recommendations of the Secretary-General’s Envoy will

ensure greater support of the international community for

the IGAD peace initiative and bring about a more effective

coordination between the external actors. We strongly

believe that the Secretary-General’s proposed trust fund for

Somalia will go a long way towards providing support to

the peace process.

In this connection, I wish also to mention the

OAU/IGAD joint mission to Somalia scheduled to take

place this month. The explicit aim of this joint mission is

to make the Bossaso Reconciliation Conference

comprehensive and all-inclusive by encouraging all parties

to participate and to convey a clear and unequivocal

message that no group has the veto power over peace in

Somalia.

Our subregion, the Horn of Africa, has been one of

the regions of the world most affected by the consequences

of war. The damage inflicted has been immense. Our region

needs a respite and a peaceful period to make up for the

lost time. Because it is a region in which deadly and

prolonged wars were conducted, weapons are easily

available and landmines strewn all over the place. In

Ethiopia alone, it is estimated that there are over 1.5

million anti-personnel landmines, which continue to kill

and maim innocent people, including women and

children. In this connection, we attach great importance to

the adoption by the recent Oslo Conference of the draft

treaty on the ban on anti-personnel landmines. We appeal

to those who remain outside the Ottawa process to sign

the draft convention in December this year, so that it can

be an effective instrument for getting rid of these deadly

weapons.

As a founding Member of the United Nations,

Ethiopia has always been unreserved in fulfilling its

commitment to the Organization and in upholding the

principles of its Charter. My country has also been a

beneficiary of various programmes of the United Nations

system. Accordingly, the increasing effectiveness of the

Organization in all areas and the realization of universal

peace and security are goals we cherish deeply.

I wish to conclude by expressing the hope that the

United Nations and the international community will not

miss the opportunities that have been created since the

beginning of this decade for fostering effective

international cooperation, eradicating poverty and

realizing sustainable development in those regions of the

world that have not yet achieved it.