Guinea, 2001

I

should like to associate my country and delegation with

the expressions of sympathy for the great suffering

endured by the city of New York following the crash of

the American Airlines plane yesterday. To the

Government of the United States, our host city and all

the bereaved families, I address the condolences of the

Government and people of Guinea.

A year ago in this Hall, the great leaders of the

world, in a unanimous surge, committed themselves to

thinking together about the role of this Organization,

the United Nations, in the twenty-first century, and

about ways of achieving its objectives fully, with a

view to constructing together a world of peace,

progress and solidarity. The historic Declaration which

emerged from the Millennium Summit emphasized the

need to open a new era of international relations.

It was when the international community was

preparing to review the implementation of the

recommendations and decisions of that Summit that

unprecedented terrorist acts cast a shadow over our

hopes. These acts, to which the United States fell

victim on 11 September 2001, profoundly shocked the

conscience of all peoples. The barbarity and violence

of these terrorist attacks, and also the threat of

bioterrorism, are serious attacks on international peace

and security.

My delegation would like once again to express

its sympathy to the American people, especially the

families of the many victims. The Republic of Guinea

condemns those intolerable acts and believes that it

should be the concern of all States to combat and

eradicate terrorism. We firmly support any measures

aimed at eliminating the bases of international

terrorism and fully associate ourselves with the

international community in its global response to that

scourge.

The fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly

is thus taking place within the context of a new and

alarming situation for international peace and security.

My delegation is therefore very pleased to see you, Sir,

presiding over the Assembly during this session. We

are convinced that your wealth of experience, as well

as your great diplomatic skill, will ensure the success

of our discussions. I would like to assure you of the

cooperation and support of the delegation of Guinea.

I should also like to thank your predecessor,

Mr. Harri Holkeri, for the excellent work accomplished

under his presidency.

17

My delegation would like once again to convey

the warm congratulations of General Lansana Conté,

President of the Republic of Guinea, to our brother,

Kofi Annan, on his well-deserved re-election as the

head of our Organization. The unanimous tribute that

has been paid to him brings honour to the whole of the

African continent and bears witness to his great

qualities and his commitment to achieving the

objectives of the United Nations. The Nobel Peace

Prize recently awarded jointly to him and to the

Organization is eloquent testimony to that commitment

and an encouragement to continue to act in the service

of peace and understanding among peoples.

The award of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize to the

United Nations is, without doubt, a recognition of its

role in the implementation of its objectives — the

maintenance of international peace and security,

development and cooperation among nations.

Increasingly, the Organization is proving to be the

necessary crucible for dialogue among States.

However, almost all Members earnestly desire the

strengthening and improvement of the entire system.

While reaffirming its support for the reform

process initiated by the Secretary-General, my country,

the Republic of Guinea, would like to emphasize the

need to strengthen the principal organs of the

Organization. We welcome the actions taken by your

predecessor, Sir, to streamline the working methods of

the General Assembly so as to give it fresh dynamism.

We hope that that impetus will continue.

My delegation would also like to reaffirm its

support for restructuring the Security Council, in its

membership as well as its working methods, so as to

enable it to better protect the interests of all Member

States. I should like to take this opportunity to express,

on behalf of my Government, our gratitude to all States

for the unanimous support that enabled Guinea to be

elected a non-permanent member of the Security

Council for 2002 and 2003. During its mandate, the

Republic of Guinea will make every effort to contribute

actively to the maintenance of peace and security in the

world.

Peace and security continue to be threatened in

many parts of the world. In the Middle East,

intolerance and intransigence have led to a dangerous

escalation of violence, which, if not controlled in time,

could cause the whole region to go up in flames. The

Republic of Guinea would like to appeal to all the

parties to exercise greater restraint so as to facilitate a

resumption of the peace process. My country supports

the full application of the recommendations of the

Mitchell commission and the implementation of

effective follow-up mechanisms. Dispatching

international observers could contribute to ending the

violence and returning peace to all the peoples there.

However, the indifference of the international

community and its failure to take action could, in the

long term, prove to be prejudicial to security in the

Middle East.

My delegation condemns all acts of violence,

which can lead only to a worsening of the situation. In

the light of the serious events that have taken place in

recent months, the international community must do all

that it can to lead all parties to accept a ceasefire and to

resume the peace process. Arms must give way to

dialogue, which should lead to a just, equitable and

lasting peace. The legitimate rights of the Palestinian

people should be respected. Likewise, the existence

and security of Israel must be guaranteed.

One year ago, my country became the victim of

aggression committed by rebel groups. That barbaric

aggression caused great loss of life and material

damage. My Government would like to express its full

appreciation for the subsequent role played by the

United Nations in adopting appropriate measures to

create conditions conducive to the restoration of peace

and stability in the subregion. My delegation would

also like to take this opportunity to thank all the

individuals and States that contributed to the adoption

and implementation of those measures. One year later,

the fact that a dialogue has been initiated by civil

society in the three countries concerned — Sierra

Leone, Liberia and Guinea — means that we have

reached an important stage in the search for peace.

The Republic of Guinea, which has always shown

its determination to maintain and strengthen friendship,

brotherhood and cooperation with all African countries

in general and neighbouring countries in particular,

would like to reaffirm to the Assembly its readiness to

make the Mano River Union a model of economic

integration, social cohesion and political stability.

However, relaunching the activities of the Union

will depend upon respect for the relevant provisions of

the Non-aggression and Security Cooperation Treaty

signed by the three countries and of the 15th Protocol

to the Mano River Declaration, signed at Conakry on 8

18

May 2000. That is what is required for productive

dialogue among the three countries.

In the framework of the process of re-establishing

confidence and dialogue among the countries members

of the Mano River Union, meetings have been held at

the ministerial level in Monrovia, Freetown and

Conakry. Those meetings made it possible to discuss

important problems relating to the activities of armed

groups in the subregion, the situation of refugees,

measures to rebuild confidence, peace and security, and

the need to reactivate the various bodies of the Mano

River Union.

My Government welcomes the encouraging

developments in Sierra Leone, particularly the

programme for disarmament, demobilization and

reintegration (DDR). The DDR programme that has

been implemented will have to be consolidated if it is

to lead to the true demobilization of all the

Revolutionary United Front combatants and if the

mistakes made in Liberia are to be avoided. In Liberia,

the restoration of peace after 10 years of civil war has

not, unfortunately, been accompanied by a true DDR

programme or by post-conflict financial support.

I would like to express regret with regard to the

inadequate results of the Paris conference convened to

deal with the problem of Sierra Leone, and to call on

the international community to provide the necessary

material and financial support to guarantee lasting

peace in that country. My delegation bases its appeal

on the relevant recommendations contained in the

Brahimi report, which have been accepted by the

principal organs of the Organization. The Republic of

Guinea will continue to support the efforts of the

United Nations and the Economic Community of West

African States in restoring peace, security and national

reconciliation in Sierra Leone.

The question of refugees is still a matter of great

concern for my Government. The enormous economic,

social, environmental and security impact of the

continued presence of hundreds of thousands of Sierra

Leonean and Liberian refugees continues to impose a

heavy burden on the economic and social life of my

country. The situation of the refugees is a matter of

great concern for the international community at a time

when rebel attacks against my country are being

carried out, as the countries hosting refugees are the

main target of the aggressors. Following this

aggression, the Government took appropriate measures,

in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations

High Commissioner for Refugees, to relocate refugees

in zones far from the borders in order to ensure their

security.

The Secretary-General’s report on strengthening

of the coordination of emergency humanitarian

assistance amply describes the context of humanitarian

assistance and the difficulties to be overcome,

particularly in complex emergency situations.

We welcome the missions undertaken in the

subregion of West Africa by various United Nations

bodies, as well as the conclusions they reached. While

the resolution of most issues identified by those

missions requires an integrated approach, it is

nonetheless true that problems peculiar to certain

countries require particular attention. With respect to

Guinea, a victim of the consequences of the conflicts in

the subregion, it would be desirable for the

international community to provide greater support. In

that regard, I wish to reiterate the appeal to convene a

conference on solidarity with Guinea in order to help it

address the consequences of the prolonged presence of

refugees on its territory. I would stress that this appeal

of the Guinean Government is supported by the United

Nations inter-agency mission that recently visited our

country.

Before I conclude on this topic, I wish to

welcome the proposal to create a United Nations office

for West Africa, in accordance with the

recommendation of the Fall mission report. The

creation of such a body would demonstrate the

Organization’s clear interest in making the West

African region a zone of peace, security and

cooperation. My country will spare no effort in

cooperating fully with that office.

How can we discuss the conflicts in Africa

without highlighting the links between the illegal

exploitation of natural resources, the traffic in weapons

and the perpetuation of conflict? The reports of the

various groups of experts established by the Security

Council are edifying on this subject. In Sierra Leone,

Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

these links have clearly shown the involvement, in

addition to rebel groups, of certain authorities in that

illegal activity.

My Government therefore fully supports the

actions of the Security Council to impose sanctions

against any Government or group involved in the

19

pillaging of a country’s natural resources, in

accordance with the relevant provisions of international

law. The Republic of Guinea feels that if energetic

deterrent measures are not taken against the

perpetrators of such crimes, which are emerging as a

new kind of threat to peace, the entire African

continent may once again fall victim to conflict.

With regard to the Democratic Republic of the

Congo, my country calls for scrupulous respect for the

Lusaka Agreement and for all pertinent Security

Council resolutions, and in particular for the

withdrawal of foreign troops, safeguarding the integrity

of Congolese territory and the pursuit of the inter-

Congolese dialogue.

In the Western Sahara, my country welcomes the

efforts of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General.

We are following with great interest the new initiatives

under way to find an acceptable solution to the crisis.

The phenomenon of globalization, characteristic

of international life today, calls for greater attention

from our States. My delegation is aware of the

necessary interdependence of nations and wishes once

again to stress that there can be no shared destiny

without a minimum of justice and solidarity in

international relations. We must work together to make

international economic relations more human and to

eradicate poverty.

There is no need here to point out that poverty,

destitution and illiteracy, which are unfortunately the

lot of a large majority of nations, provide fertile ground

for the propagation of the extremism and fanaticism

that, regrettably, underlie terrorist tendencies

throughout the world. The eradication of poverty

should be the objective of all countries in strengthening

the bases of lasting peace and security in the world.

Allow me to reiterate the appeal to the rich

countries to listen more closely to the poorer nations

and to support them in their development efforts. In

this respect, I renew the appeal for the adoption of a

better approach to the question of the debt of African

countries, for appropriate payment for raw materials

and for an increase in official development assistance.

On another level, the Marrakesh Agreement

establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO)

sought to institute an equitable multilateral trade

system with special reference to the particular situation

of the least developed countries. It is regrettable to note

today, however, that the least developed countries are

being increasingly marginalized in the globalization

process and that their share of the world trade market is

only 0.4 per cent.

The Republic of Guinea hopes that this trend will

be reversed and that decisions to that end will be taken

at the fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha.

These decisions will have to address, inter alia, the

issue of the implementation of WTO accords, the

consolidation of special and differentiated treatment set

forth in the various WTO agreements, consolidated

market access for the products of the least developed

countries to the markets of the developed countries,

and access to essential drugs for the poorest

populations of the world that are particularly

vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. I

also welcome the People’s Republic of China’s

accession to full membership of the WTO and reiterate

the support of the Guinean Government for the position

positing a single China.

In addition, we would like to see the International

Conference on Financing for Development, to be held

in March in Mexico, become an opportunity for all

parties to agree on solutions promoting sustainable

development for all members of the international

community, in particular the developing countries and

especially those on the African continent.

In stressing the interdependence of

environmental, economic and social factors, my

delegation feels that the forthcoming World Summit on

Sustainable Development, to be held in South Africa,

should encourage the financing of projects. My

delegation urges greater involvement by the

international financial institutions in the search for

ways to promote international cooperation for

development. In the framework of operational activities

for development, the funds and programmes of the

United Nations must more than ever harmonize and

stress their interaction on the African continent so as to

allow it to rise above conflict and underdevelopment.

I also take this opportunity to appeal to the

international community to give special attention to the

New African Initiative, adopted at the recent Assembly

of Heads of State and Government of the Organization

of African Unity, held in Lusaka in July, in order to

help Africa to participate actively in the world

economy and international political life and thus to

20

escape exclusion from a planet undergoing full-scale

globalization.

The United Nations was born last century. It

continues to exist in this new century. This is a source

of satisfaction to humanity. It is therefore essential that

we return to the ideals on which the Organization was

founded and that we give it the means to achieve a

world of peace, progress, solidarity and concord. The

achievement of such a world is possible if we want it.

Let us work together to make the noble ideals

contained in the Millennium Declaration a reality so

that we may lay the foundations of a planetary village

free of threats to the survival of mankind, such as the

scourge of war, poverty, injustice and intolerance. I can

solemnly assure the Assembly that my country will

cooperate to achieve that end.