Guyana, 1995

In another two weeks we will

be commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of this

Organization. We shall do so with much ceremony. I

would hope, however, that we will go beyond the

ceremonial to take the opportunity which the occasion

provides us to reflect further on the role of the

Organization and on the ways and means by which its

performance can be enhanced to serve better the needs of

its Members in the coming twenty-first century.

We offer Mr. Freitas do Amaral our warmest

congratulations on his election. We are confident that,

with his demonstrated ability and skills, he will advance

us even further in our task of reforming and restructuring

4

the Organization so that it may successfully confront the

challenges which the post-cold-war era has brought. He

may be sure that we will fully cooperate with him to make

the deliberations of the fiftieth session of this Assembly as

constructive as possible.

My Government is grateful to the outgoing President

of the Assembly, Mr. Amara Essy of Côte d’Ivoire, for the

initiatives which he took during his term of office to

improve the functioning of the institution at this critical

time of its existence.

We would also wish to say a special word of

appreciation to the distinguished Secretary-General,

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and his staff for their

continuing devotion to the servicing of our many

requirements. Their support for our efforts will undoubtedly

guarantee our ultimate success.

It is vitally important that the dynamism and

effectiveness of the United Nations be increased if it is

adequately to discharge its many tasks. Since the

Organization was founded almost five decades ago, the

world has changed considerably and international problems

have become much more complex. The United Nations

today bears a heavier load of responsibility than ever

before. Ironically, at the same time, it is saddled with a

deepening financial crisis which makes its effectiveness and

its very future highly uncertain. This situation cannot

continue without adverse consequences for the world

community.

The expanding nature of many peace-keeping

operations not only places an added financial strain on the

finances of the United Nations, but is especially

burdensome for small developing countries, such as mine,

which are finding it increasingly difficult to fulfil our

financial obligations to the Organization. Support for these

operations represents a continuing drain on our limited

resources and hampers our own efforts at development. Yet

as conflicts multiply the United Nations will be called upon

to mount more operations to keep the peace.

Given the urgency of these demands, we have no

choice but to try and meet them. The time has therefore

come for us to put the financing of these undertakings on

a more reliable footing. We urge all States, especially the

major defaulting countries, to honour fully their obligations

to the Organization.

It must be a matter of growing concern to the

international community that the peace and prosperity

expected in the aftermath of the cold war have not

materialized. The world continues to face some of the

worst threats to international stability. Violent conflicts

arising from resurgent nationalisms and religious

intolerance between and within States have proliferated.

The unresolved situations in Afghanistan, Rwanda, parts

of the former Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia

have caused severe loss of life and destruction to property

and have given rise to humanitarian crises of immense

proportions.

The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains

uncertain. The suffering of the Bosnian people, the total

disregard for the safe havens and the constant threat to

the international peace-keeping force demands that the

international community take effective measures to end

this senseless conflict. We welcome the prospects of a

peaceful settlement which have resulted from the latest

diplomatic initiative. With the international Tribunal for

the former Yugoslavia now established, we hope that

those responsible for the atrocities committed against the

Bosnian people will be brought to trial.

We are equally concerned with the situation in

Cyprus which, despite the efforts of the Secretary-

General, appears to be worsening. There are reports of

escalating tensions. We urge both sides to the dispute to

respond urgently to his call for a negotiated solution

which would preserve the island’s sovereignty and

territorial integrity.

Although the Middle East continues to be volatile,

we have reason today to believe that a comprehensive

peace can be a reality in the not-too-distant future. The

accords already signed between Israel and the Palestinians

on the one hand and Israel and Jordan on the other show

a willingness to reach a just and lasting solution. These

achievements should serve as a catalyst for new

initiatives. Many issues such as the refugee problem,

security arrangements and borders, fundamental to the

Palestine question, remain to be settled. The recent high-

level negotiations between the Prime Minister of Israel

and the President of Palestine must be considered a

positive development. We hope that all remaining

difficulties can be resolved in good faith by both sides

with the help of this Organization and the international

community.

In our own region we are pleased to see that peace

and stability have been restored to a large degree in Haiti.

Much has been accomplished since the return of the

democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in

5

October 1994. We note in particular the practical steps

taken by the Government of Haiti to organize free and fair

legislative elections, as called for in Security Council

resolution 940 (1994). The first of these elections has

shown that more has to be done in terms of establishing an

effective electoral machinery. The role of the International

Civilian Mission and the United Nations Mission in Haiti

(UNMIH) in assisting the Haitian authorities to reinforce

democracy remains crucial. The sustained commitment of

the international community is indispensable to the

prospects for long-term progress in Haiti. My Government

is ready to provide whatever assistance it can to achieve

this goal.

Today more than ever, the people of the world are

making the United Nations the repository of their hopes.

The Organization must therefore do its utmost to satisfy

these expanded expectations. It must undertake whatever

institutional reforms are necessary for adapting itself to the

new international context. The urgency of our agenda

makes it imperative for us to conclude as early as possible

the work under way in the many Working Groups to secure

the rationalization of our agenda, as well as the reform of

the major organs of the United Nations. These reforms,

which we believe to be essential and urgent, must be

carried out with transparency and on a consensual basis.

They must be realistic and be aimed at increasing

efficiency. Above all, they must be in full accordance with

the democratic purposes and principles of the Charter.

In so far as the reform of the Security Council is

concerned, my Government supports an appropriate increase

in membership. Such an increase should take account of the

size of the current membership of the Organization and be

reflective of the principle of equitable geographical

representation. The discussions in the Working Group that

was set up in accordance with resolution 48/26 have

produced several interesting proposals for reform. These

should now be more closely examined and evaluated to

determine their feasibility. It is possible, we believe, to find

an arrangement that would respond satisfactorily to the need

for enhancing the Council’s capacity to preserve

international peace and security in the post-cold-war era.

A major responsibility of any reformed Council should

be to give further impetus to the disarmament process. The

decision taken by the 1995 Review and Extension

Conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to extend the agreement

indefinitely reflects the commitment of all parties involved

to work towards the elimination of nuclear weapons. The

extension of the Treaty, however, is not an end in itself. It

must be followed by further steps towards complete

nuclear disarmament, the dissemination of nuclear know-

how for peaceful purposes, adequate security assurances

to non-nuclear-weapon States and the establishment of

nuclear-weapon free zones. Especially important is the

need to conclude a comprehensive test-ban treaty in order

to preclude nuclear-weapon States from undertaking

further hazardous experiments. We urge the Conference

on Disarmament to proceed as expeditiously as possible

to the elaboration of a universal and effective treaty

within a fixed time frame.

The nuclear threat, as well as other hazards to which

we are exposed, must make us all actually aware of our

obligation to protect our fragile environment. Since the

United Nations Conference on Environment and

Development, we have made some progress in a number

of areas with regard to the implementation of Agenda 21.

We have seen the coming into force of the Convention on

Biological Diversity, the Convention on Climate Change

and the Convention to Combat Desertification, as well as

the holding in Barbados of the Global Conference on the

Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing

States and the adoption of the Barbados Programme of

Action. Much more, however, remains to be done if we

are adequately to honour the commitments made in Rio.

The terrible destruction inflicted recently by

powerful hurricanes on several sister States in the

Caribbean Community shows how vulnerable small States

are to environmental disasters. Only two months ago my

own country suffered major ecological damage as a result

of severe leakages from the tailings pond dam at the

Omai Gold Mines in the Essequibo region, causing some

1.2 million cubic metres of cyanide slurry to be

discharged into the environment. Aquatic life in the river

was endangered, while the inhabitants of nearby villages

were exposed to serious health hazards. Fortunately, the

Government of Guyana was able, with the assistance of

friendly Governments and agencies of the United Nations

system, to contain the danger. These disasters, both

natural and man-made, point to the need for urgent

international action to protect small countries such as

ours.

Yet, three years after the Rio Conference, the

commitments to provide financial resources to implement

Agenda 21 remain largely on paper. The target of 0.7 per

cent of official development assistance is still to be

realized. New resources have simply not been available to

undertake some of the programmes specified in the

Agenda. Nor have we witnessed any significant transfer

6

of suitable technology to developing countries. While the

developing countries are ready to discharge their

obligations, developed countries balk at making their

contribution. The global partnership, which was so highly

advocated and praised at the United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development, is yet to be formed.

We are nevertheless encouraged by the adoption last

August of the Draft Agreement for the Implementation of

the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the

Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the

Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks

and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. We hope that this

Agreement, which will be opened for signature on

4 December 1995, will ensure the long-term conservation

and sustainable use of the living resources of the high seas

identified in Agenda 21. This Agreement and the larger

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which

came into force in November 1994, are important to the

sustainable development of the fishing industry in small

States such as ours. We urge their full observance and

implementation.

Overall economic development remains the single

most important challenge facing Member States and,

consequently, the United Nations. At various conferences,

including the World Summit for Social Development, which

was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, last March, we have

repeatedly expressed our political will to address our

diverse economic and social problems. We came away from

Copenhagen ready to act, but we remain uncertain as to the

way forward. Now that the Beijing Conference on women

is behind us, the international community needs to summon

even greater determination if it is to translate into action the

bold decisions we have taken in this series of important

summit meetings. These decisions should now be

consolidated, and specific machinery set up for their

implementation. It would indeed be a great pity if the

painfully negotiated results of these high-level deliberations

were left to evaporate.

The great divide between rich and poor, both among

and within nations, must be considered a threat to world

peace. The plight of developing countries, particularly the

least-developed countries, compels urgent action. The

problems of development, or rather of underdevelopment,

can no longer be dealt with adequately on an ad hoc and

piecemeal basis or through questionable structural-

adjustment measures. What is required is fundamental

reform of the international economic system, which

continues to marginalize developing countries into a

position of perpetual dependence. It is necessary to define

new strategies and to agree on new modalities to reverse

the present inequities in international economic relations.

The developing countries are willing to do their part

in providing an environment favourable to growth.

However, they urgently need significant debt relief,

greater financial investment flows, the transfer of

appropriate technology, the elimination of tariff and

non-tariff barriers and just remuneration for commodities

and raw materials. These are not new prescriptions; they

are generally known to be essential for development.

Thus far, however, developed countries have evinced

notable reluctance to follow them, preferring instead to

dispense small amounts of bilateral aid. Most of them

have now further reduced this limited assistance. The root

problems therefore remain unresolved.

The signing, in Marrakesh in 1994, of the Uruguay

Round agreements has provided some hope that the

playing-field for international trade will be levelled to

induce the participation of developing countries. The

recently created World Trade Organization, if properly

oriented, may be able to provide a rule-based system that

could encourage such participation. There is much to be

said for the introduction of predictability into international

economic relations, and we should therefore work to

ensure that it is provided in whatever agreements we

reach. The “Agenda for Development”, which we are in

the process of elaborating, must embody the rights and

obligations accepted by the parties.

In this context, Guyana attaches great importance to

the conclusion of work on the Agenda. We view the

Agenda as an overarching framework for international

cooperation for development. We are therefore concerned

that, while we work to establish the framework, we

should also secure the necessary commitment of resources

for effective implementation. In this regard, we believe

that South-South cooperation should be considered as an

integral and important element of international

cooperation for development. International support for

greater South-South cooperation cannot but enhance the

prospects for world development, thereby increasing the

potentialities of interdependence and partnership.

Economic growth cannot be sustained for long

unless each individual citizen and each individual

community has a stake in that growth and is empowered

to take an active part in the development process.

Moreover, economic growth would be meaningless if it

were not equitably distributed. A society cannot find

fulfilment in growth. Indeed, the development process

7

itself is severely hampered if a society does not take

adequate care of its vulnerable groups: women, children,

ethnic minorities, the handicapped and the homeless.

Development must therefore have a social dimension.

Conscious of this need, the President of Guyana,

His Excellency Mr. Cheddi Jagan, has advanced the concept

of a new global human order. An essential feature of this

order would be the consensus that has now emerged in

respect of development and governance, the role of the

State and the market and sustainable environmentalism.

While this consensus is to be welcomed, it is attended by

new social, economic and political problems which will

effectively prevent it from taking us forward. The solution

of these problems calls for a new global commitment to

human ideals and universal human development. In his own

address to the Assembly, President Jagan will expand on

this proposal with a view to securing an appropriate

declaration on a new global order to which all States can

subscribe.

As I said at the outset of my statement, we must not

be content with merely celebrating the fiftieth anniversary

of the United Nations. The critical situation in which the

world now finds itself demands from us a supreme effort to

make full use of the opportunities which this historical

conjuncture offers. The possibilities of interdependence and

international cooperation have never been greater. We owe

it to ourselves and to future generations to grasp the chance

we now have for creating a truly just and humane society

of nations.