Guinea-Bissau, 1994

Allow me first of all, Sir, to congratulate you

warmly on your noteworthy election as President of the

General Assembly at its forty-ninth session. Your presence,

dear brother, at the head of the Assembly is clear proof of

the commitment of your country, Côte d’Ivoire, to the

defence of international ideals and the promotion of

multilateral diplomacy. Furthermore, your personal

competence and the rich diplomatic experience you have

acquired over the years are a guarantee of the success of

our deliberations. My country, Guinea-Bissau, which holds

one of the vice-presidencies, wishes to assure you of its

total availability and fullest cooperation.

Our thanks and congratulations also go to your

illustrious predecessor, Mr. Samuel Insanally, for the

wisdom with which he guided the work of the forty-eighth

session.

We would also like to express our congratulations to

the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and to

pay him a tribute for his tireless activity in the midst of

so many dramatic events.

The general debate of the forty-ninth session reflects

the logic of the post-cold-war period, in which the burden

of blocs, ideological confrontations and threats of nuclear

has been lightened, thus creating favourable conditions for

a new type of relationship between nations and peoples.

The political and socio-economic changes that have

taken place on the international scene undoubtedly will

have repercussions on the structure and functioning of the

United Nations.

Created 49 years ago, the United Nations has long

lived in the context of the bipolarization of blocs and of

ideologies. Today more than ever, our Organization is

called upon to face the challenges of international politics

in a different way.

The positive trend emerging on the international

level thanks to joint efforts by many parties to preserve

this trend is nonetheless being thwarted by various

hotbeds of tension and conflict in different regions of the

world.

Guinea-Bissau, aware of this fact and of its harmful

consequences, is firmly committed to the promotion of a

new international conscience, based on respect for human

values.

The United Nations, in order to better respond to the

requirements of our times, must take these new challenges

into account and thus undertake the necessary reforms.

The universally hailed end of bipolarization in

international relations has brought about a rebirth of hope

for a new era of peace. Alas, the world is still the theatre

of tragic and unforeseeable events.

The African continent is one of the regions of the

world that is most affected. Drought and desertification,

which bring disorder to that continent, diminish its

productive capacity and provoke famine, is now being

compounded by fratricidal wars.

It is no accident that in the course of recent years

more than half of the peace-keeping operations of the

United Nations have taken place, unfortunately, in Africa.

In Angola, the people continue to be victims of

suffering and atrocities. Guinea-Bissau once again urges

the parties to the conflict to fully respect the relevant

Security Council resolutions and hopes that the Lusaka talks

will produce results.

In Mozambique, significant progress has been

achieved in the efforts to establish a lasting peace. We

repeat our congratulations to the Government and to the

Resistência Nacional Moçambicana, and urge them to

persevere along this road, which should lead to the holding

of multiparty elections in the coming days.

In Liberia, the situation remains virtually unchanged,

despite numerous agreements concluded between the parties

concerned. If it continues, this state of affairs may imperil

the stability of the subregion.

The situation in Rwanda and in Somalia continues to

be of serious concern to my country. We urge all of the

parties concerned to end hostilities in favor of dialogue for

the achievement of national reconciliation. My Government

welcomes the international community’s unified actions on

behalf of these two countries, in particular "Operation

Turquoise," undertaken by France.

With regard to the situation in Western Sahara, my

country’s delegation welcomes the progress achieved and

supports the efforts of the Secretary-General.

Similarly, Guinea-Bissau is of the opinion that the

conflicts in the former Yugoslavia must be resolved through

peaceful negotiations.

The end of apartheid and the holding of the first free

and democratic election in South Africa have turned a

page in the history of that country, which is called upon

to play an important role in Africa and in the world.

The peace agreement signed between Israel and the

Palestine Liberation Organization, which provides for

mutual recognition by the two parties, and the agreement

between Israel and Jordan represent important steps

toward the creation of lasting peace in the region.

Concerning the question of East Timor, we support

the continuation of all initiatives undertaken under the

auspices of the Secretary-General with a view to bringing

about a just and equitable solution.

Regarding Cuba, my country encourages dialogue

between the United States and that country to find a

solution to the question of the embargo, the repercussions

of which have a major impact on the population.

In the case of Haiti, we are pleased to note that after

many efforts by the United Nations and the Organization

of American States, the fundamental rights of the Haitian

people have finally been re-established and democracy

restored with the return of the constitutionally elected

President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It is appropriate here

to pay tribute to the decisive role played by the United

States in the implementation of Security Council

resolution 940 (1994).

Respect for human rights is a factor for peace and a

guarantee of international stability. The full exercise of

individual rights presupposes the existence of objective

conditions of economic and social organization based on

justice and equity.

The international community must promote more just

and constructive cooperation between States to combat the

perverse effects of poverty and improve material

conditions in the most needy countries and among the

most handicapped populations.

We are pleased at the results achieved by the World

Conference on Human Rights and hope that the

resolutions and decisions agreed upon there will

contribute to the protection and strengthening of human

rights.

Like many preceding speakers, I wish to emphasize,

on behalf of Guinea-Bissau, that it is our firm conviction

that the Republic of China in Taiwan should regain its

2

place in the United Nations, on the basis of the principles

of parallel representation of divided countries. As a full-

fledged Member of the United Nations, the Republic of

China in Taiwan, with its 20,000,000 inhabitants and its

highly advanced stage of economic and technological

development, could play a preponderant role on the

international scene. We hope that at its next session, which

will coincide with the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary

of the founding of our world Organization, the General

Assembly will decide to put this item on its agenda.

Guinea-Bissau has just carried out multiparty

legislative and presidential elections, which were considered

just and transparent by our people and by international

observers. These elections, which showed the good

citizenship and maturity of the people of Guinea-Bissau,

took place in a climate of exemplary civilian peace. Our

country is firmly committed to the preservation and the

deepening of pluralistic democracy, a condition sine qua

non for any type of lasting development.

As emphasized by His Excellency João Bernardo

Vieira, President of our Republic, at his inauguration on 29

September this year, there were no losers in the elections in

Guinea-Bissau. All the people of Guinea-Bissau and our

country’s national unity, stability and development were

winners.

At this new stage in the history of our country we are

of course counting on our people’s determination, but also

on the international community’s support.

We welcome the success of the Uruguay Round and

the prospects for international trade that were opened up

with the signing of the Marrakesh Agreement and the

establishment of the World Trade Organization. We

believe that the achievement of the objectives after more

than eight years of negotiations, resulting in the Declaration

of Marrakesh, should have beneficial consequences for the

developing countries, thus enabling trade to play its

efficient role as a motor for development.

We believe that it is urgent to revise the current

economic order, which strongly penalizes the developing

countries. Indeed, these countries, and those of Africa in

particular, are faced with the problems of the outflow of

capital and the deterioration of the terms of trade, which

seriously compromise the economic and social development

of the countries of the South. This extremely painful

situation is a significant cause of the developing countries’

external indebtedness.

The external debt of the developing countries in

general and of the African countries in particular remains

an unbearable burden for their economies and a major

obstacle to their development.

Guinea-Bissau, with the support of its principal

economic partners, is continuing its efforts to find an

appropriate and lasting solution to the debt problem,

which has serious consequences for its socio-economic

development.

We consider that the Organization should devote

special attention to the United Nations New Agenda for

the Development of Agrica in the 1990s in order to speed

up the process of the socio-economic transformation of

the continent. Similarly, we support the rapid

implementation of the "Agenda for Development".

The problem of desertification represents a major

concern for the Government of Guinea-Bissau, a country

which, because it is located in the Sudano-Sahelian

region, is faced with persistent irregularities in rainfall, as

well as massive invasions of insects that destroy

agricultural production. In this context, our country

supports the signing of an international convention to

combat desertification in those countries experiencing

serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in

Africa.

The social and economic development activities of

the United Nations are in our view aimed in particular at

the most vulnerable groups - women, children, young

people, the aged and the handicapped. The situation in

which the majority of people in the developing world are

now living deserves special attention from our

Organization.

In fact, the solution of the problem lies in a better

development of North-South cooperation. If there is to be

progress in the developing countries, health and education

systems must be upgraded, and machinery must be

established to eradicate hunger and poverty and improve

living conditions in the world.

We repeat our support for the convening of the

World Summit for Social Development in 1995 and of the

Fourth World Conference on Women, as well as the

Preparatory Conference in Dakar and Habitat II.

The international community is capable of meeting

the challenges facing it and of resolving complex

problems. Our Organization has many, sometimes

3

difficult, tasks to accomplish. It is our sincere wish that the

process of restructuring the United Nations system, so

necessary for the revitalization of the Organization, can be

completed, so that the hopes that prevailed at the founding

of the United Nations will be seen in a new light when we

celebrate the forthcoming fiftieth anniversary of the United

Nations.