Guinea-Bissau, 1996

I wish to congratulate the President warmly on

his election to the presidency of the General Assembly and

to reiterate our trust in his qualities and skills, which will

help in conducting the work of this session. I assure him

that the delegation of Guinea- Bissau is ready and willing

to help him.

We would also like to congratulate his predecessor,

Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral, for the devotion and

constructive spirit with which he carried out his duties.

We take this opportunity to underscore our

appreciation to and reiterate our confidence in the

Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, whose

initiative and personal involvement in the reform of the

United Nations system have made satisfactory results

possible.

Last year, over 185 States met in New York City to

commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations.

This historic event was an excellent opportunity for the

United Nations to evaluate and assess the state of our

Organization in a changing world and to cast a glance

forward into the future.

Today, as yesterday, a large part of the world’s

population — which, to date, has experienced neither peace

nor security, not to mention social well-being — place their

trust in the United Nations, the only institution with a

universal mission, capable of promoting international peace

and security and developing socio-economic cooperation on

a global scale.

The numerous challenges and hopes which the United

Nations must respond to today are unprecedented. It is

therefore important that we make every effort to restructure

and revitalize the Organization, because the United Nations

is facing an increasingly complex international situation.

In that connection, we commend the Open-Ended

Working Group on the Question of Equitable

Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the

Security Council for its contribution to overall efforts

made on this important and timely question. Guinea-

Bissau is of the view that all related proposals of the

African Group, and other proposals such as that of Italy,

should be given due consideration.

In a world beset by numerous grave conflicts, the

United Nations is incontrovertibly, the best forum for

achieving the ideals which underpin its irreplaceable role

in promoting international peace and security.

However, despite the ongoing efforts of our

Organization, peace and stability are still a dream in

many parts of the world. Conflicts and fratricidal warfare,

and the persistence of various kinds of serious tension

among States, have made innocent victims of entire

populations, causing loss of human life and provoking

massive movements of peoples and refugees.

Unfortunately, Africa is the continent most affected by

this tragedy. Angola, Burundi, Liberia, Rwanda and

Somalia are dramatic examples of Africa’s recent history.

My recent visit to Angola — which coincided with

my country’s presidency of the Security Council — as

Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Guinea-

Bissau, Mr. Joa¯o Bernardo Vieira, demonstrated our

people’s long-standing solidarity with the people of

Angola and illustrates our unequivocal will to promote

confidence among the parties, which is essential to the

success of the peace process.

In that connection, we should like to stress the

important role of the United Nations, the Troika and the

Special Representative of the Secretary-General,

Mr. Blondin Beye, in the establishment of the peace

process in Angola. We are convinced that the road we

have travelled and the successes achieved to date fully

warrant the confidence of the international community

and its continued support for the peace process in Angola.

Guinea-Bissau hopes that the reasons for the delay of the

full implementation of the Lusaka Protocol will be

overcome.

We deplore the tragedy that is dividing Liberia, a

country of our subregion, just as we deplore the ongoing

violations of the agreements concluded, which increase

the loss of human life and provoke new outbreaks of

violence. We are also gravely concerned to note the

negative impact of the war in Liberia on the neighbouring

countries.

We urge all warring factions to respect the new

implementation plan of the Abuja Agreement and of the

Liberian National Transitional Government. We also invite

them to cooperate fully with the Economic Community of

West African States Monitoring Group, the United Nations

Observer Mission in Liberia and the rest of the international

community in the search for a definitive solution to the

problem in Liberia.

The situation in the Great Lakes region, particularly

the situation prevailing in Burundi, is also of great concern

to us. We support the efforts of the United Nations and the

Organization of African Unity to avoid a repetition of the

Rwandan tragedy in these countries.

As for Western Sahara, we reiterate our support for

the efforts of the Secretary-General of the United Nations

to organize the referendum.

Guinea-Bissau continues to focus special attention on

the situation in East Timor which needs a negotiated,

peaceful, political approach if a solution is to be found. In

this context, we would like to welcome the talks between

Portugal and Indonesia under the auspices of the United

Nations to find a just solution to this conflict.

On behalf of our Government, I reiterate our firm

conviction that the Republic of China on Taiwan should be

part of the United Nations on the basis of respect for the

principle of universality and for the legal equality of States.

The fundamental rights of 21 million inhabitants of a

territory under the jurisdiction of a legal Government whose

President has been democratically elected provide the

political and legal basis for the recognition of their right to

international status as a sovereign State under the legal and

judicial terms enshrined in the Charter of the United

Nations.

The reunification of China is a question that must be

resolved by the people of China itself. However, the

Republic of China on Taiwan is legally entitled to enjoy

international status before reunification — in other words,

its recognition as a State and application of the principle of

parallel representation of divided States.

It is essential that the Middle East peace process be

supported. We consider that any lasting solution to the

Middle East conflict must respect the inalienable rights of

the Palestinian people to self-determination and to the

establishment of an independent State, and must respect the

independence and territorial integrity of all States of the

region, including the State of Israel, and their right to live

in security within internationally recognized boundaries.

The tragic events of recent days have weakened the peace

process while seriously affecting world public opinion.

We urge the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority

to persevere on the path of dialogue towards the

restoration of a climate of trust, which is vital for the

establishment of lasting peace. We welcome the meeting

between President Arafat and Prime Minister Netanyahu,

which is an important step on that path. We commend all

parties that are contributing to the restoration of the

Israel-Palestinian dialogue, especially the Government of

the United States of America.

The holding of elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina

is a positive element in the resolution of this crisis in

Europe. We hope that all the parties concerned will

henceforth devote all their energies to the reconstruction

of that devastated country, to ensure a future of peace,

tolerance and development.

The embargo against Cuba, whose repercussions

gravely affect the people of that country, must be

resolved through dialogue and negotiation by the parties

concerned, with a view to achieving a complete and

satisfactory solution.

Poverty, malnutrition, hunger and major endemic

diseases are a painful reality that affects a large part of

the population of developing countries. We welcome the

convening at Rome next November of the World Food

Summit, organized by the Food and Agriculture

Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Guinea-Bissau is convinced that international

security and stability depend on the collective struggle

against all the internal and external factors that force a

large part of the world’s population to live in abject

poverty. Indeed, the persistence of poverty throughout the

world requires an ongoing sustained effort on the part of

the community of nations and calls for a global approach

to resolve the major socio-economic problems affecting

the world.

The debt burden and debt-servicing gravely

jeopardize development in Africa. During recent years, as

was clearly demonstrated by the mid-term review of the

United Nations New Agenda for the Development of

Africa in the 1990s, our countries have become net

exporters of capital because of the financial agreements

they must honour. Indeed, the amounts allocated to debt-

servicing greatly exceed external resource flows. Guinea-

12

Bissau is no exception. Overall, third world economies have

seen little improvement.

The gap between developed and developing countries

continues to grow because of the slow rate of economic

growth in the developing countries in general and the least-

developed countries in particular.We welcome the action

undertaken by the United Nations, especially the System-

wide Special Initiative for Africa. My Government

continues to devote considerable efforts to the economic

recovery of our country, strictly applying the structural

adjustment programme agreed with the World Bank and the

International Monetary Fund. However, efforts to restore

our country’s macroeconomic balance and the well-being of

our people should be supplemented by additional support

from the international community, which we hope will

continue to be forthcoming in support of our efforts in that

direction.

Guinea-Bissau, an African country and a member of

the Portuguese-speaking community, welcomes Portugal’s

initiative to propose to its European Union partners the

convening of a European-African summit, whose objective

would be to promote a political dialogue aimed at laying a

new foundation for a new global partnership.

Environmental protection and the rational utilization of

our planet’s natural resources are the responsibility of all

humanity. Aware of this reality, Guinea-Bissau has

designed with its cooperation partners a strategy for

sustainable development that respects environmental balance

and which can be considered socially viable and just. In

that context, our Government is making considerable efforts

to implement the recommendations of the Copenhagen

World Summit for Social Development, the Platform of

Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held at

Beijing, and the recommendations of the second United

Nations Conference on Human Settlements, held at

Istanbul.

Respect for and the full exercise of basic human rights

are elements of freedom, peace and international stability.

Guinea-Bissau, a democratic country, is resolved to

preserve intrinsic human values, for harmonious and

integrated development. The United Nations is intended to

be the appropriate forum for finding concerted

comprehensive solutions to the major challenges facing the

world today. That is why it is vital to increase its ability to

prevent conflicts and preserve peace and to promote socio-

economic development. Today Guinea-Bissau, more than

ever before, is determined to contribute to the achievement

of the ideals enshrined in the United Nations Charter.