Lesotho, 2001

On behalf of the

delegation of Lesotho, allow me, through you, Sir, to

congratulate the President and other members of the

Bureau on their election to office during this fifty-sixth

session of the General Assembly. Allow me also to pay

a well deserved tribute to Mr. Harri Holkeri, President

of the fifty-fifth session, and to commend him for

spearheading efforts to reform and revitalize the

General Assembly, with a view to strengthening its role

as the chief deliberative policy-making and

representative body of the United Nations.

We congratulate our Secretary-General for

winning the Nobel Peace Prize and for his

reappointment as head of the Organization. This will

no doubt enable him to continue his efforts to make the

United Nations more relevant in facing today’s

challenges. We commend him for continuing to place

such a high premium on the need for the Organization

to develop better tools for conflict prevention,

management and resolution and encourage him to

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continue developing concepts and strategic frameworks

for the Organization’s activities in the areas of conflict

prevention and peace-building.

We particularly wish to commend the Secretary-

General for his relentless efforts and commitment to

reforming and transforming the United Nations into a

functioning Organization with a new management

culture. We reiterate the view shared by many in this

Assembly that the United Nations would be more

democratic if the Security Council were made more

representative of the membership as a whole.

Regrettably, while we all agree on the need for reform,

agreement on the details for such reform continues to

elude us.

Lesotho reiterates its unequivocal condemnation

of the barbaric acts of terror committed against

innocent civilians on 11 September and extends its

condolences to the relatives of all those who perished

during the attacks. Ideological or other differences are

no excuse for such unspeakable acts; neither can such

evil acts be justified on the grounds of expediency.

Those responsible for these acts must be punished.

While we support the international coalition against

terrorism and consider ourselves part thereof, we

nevertheless stress the need for capacity-building to

enable all countries effectively to play their part in

combating this menace.

One year after the unprecedented Millennium

Summit is now a good time for us to reflect and take

stock of how we are responding to the challenges and

changes brought about by our ever growing

interdependence and the ever-increasing

interconnectedness of our economies. In this changing

world in which all forms of economic, social, cultural

and political activity have become dependent on access

to telecommunications and information services

provided by the global information infrastructure, what

progress have we made towards making globalization

truly global and ensuring that people everywhere share

in its benefits?

The truth of the matter is that there remains a

gaping digital chasm between the industrialized and the

developing countries, especially in Africa where the

majority of the people are yet to reap the benefits of

information and communications technology. Much

still needs to be done to jump-start the introduction of

information and communications technology in

primary schools in order to enable the developing

countries to respond to the changing needs of society

and the economy.

The United Nations system thus has to redouble

its efforts in assisting developing countries, particularly

in Africa, in building their capacity in curriculum

development to ensure improvements in the quality of

education and access to information and

communications technology, including through the

transfer of technology. We thus call upon all

international partners to treat information and

communications technology as a special priority for

Africa’s development.

Despite the many difficulties that the developing

countries continue to face in addressing their urgent

development needs, solid progress is being made

towards establishing strong institutional capacities for

sustainable development, including a sound

macroeconomic foundation, effective governance,

peace and stability. Following many years of

undemocratic military dictatorships and coups d’état in

Africa, the continent has begun to take bold steps to

climb out of the rut, and today strong winds of

democracy continue to reverberate throughout. This

deepening of democratic principles has led Africans to

shun all leaders who come to power through extra-

constitutional means. There is also a growing

awareness within Africa that sustainable development

cannot take place in the midst of actual or potential

conflict and that armed conflict is retrogressive and

inevitably destroys the achievements of many years of

national development; hence, conflict management is

now assuming greater importance in Africa.

Development is also beginning to take firm roots

as many African countries formulate their development

strategies and pursue greater cooperative relations with

their development partners. The key role played by the

United Nations in helping to re-energize the

momentum for international partnership between, in

particular, the least developed countries and the

international community will remain crucial for

addressing poverty and sustainable development.

Africa is not only determined to overcome its

problems, but it is also determined to ensure that the

future development of the continent is shaped and

designed by Africans themselves. Many of the evils

that have continued to plague Africa, including

economic decline, internal unrest and civil wars,

uncertainty, corruption and disintegration of States,

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have been major obstacles to the development and

establishment of viable societies in Africa. All this has

made us realize that the only way to achieve

sustainable development for the continent is to ensure

that people live and work in stable conditions under the

rule of law. Transforming the Organization of African

Unity (OAU) into the African Union should thus be

seen as an important step that will pave the way for the

establishment of strong institutions endowed with

necessary powers and resources to enable them to

discharge their duties and responsibilities efficiently

and effectively.

It is against this background that the launching of

the New African Initiative in Lusaka in July was also a

turning point in Africa’s efforts aimed at ensuring that

appropriate Africa-wide and regional economic and

social reforms are carried out with a view to

eradicating all social injustices. This African-owned

and African-led economy-centred recovery programme

and framework for action is a pragmatic vision of how

Africa wishes to be included as a partner and not as a

recipient of the benefits and opportunities offered by

globalization. This initiative by Africans, which sets

out the right priorities and focal points for the

sustainable development of the African continent,

deserves not only commendation, but also support from

this Assembly and the international community as a

whole.

In embarking on this new path to recovery,

Africans have no illusions. They are fully aware of the

mammoth task that they have set for themselves and

believe that progress towards achieving it will have to

be driven by the people and Governments of Africa

themselves. We will have to create the necessary

conditions to allow the poor to become agents of

change, using their own talents and capacities to raise

their production and increase their income.

For all that to happen, Africa needs resources.

The international community must provide support not

only through development cooperation, but also

through improved trade access for African countries to

the markets of the developed world. The “Everything

but Arms” initiative adopted by the European Council

of Ministers in February is a first important step

towards scrapping customs duties on imports from

Africa and other developing countries, and needs to be

emulated. We express our gratitude for the support and

commitment already given to this initiative by the G-8

and the European Union and call upon other donor

countries and agencies to join Africa as it embarks on

its new path of recovery. In the same vein, we

acknowledge the benefits that the African Growth and

Opportunity Act holds for sub-Saharan African

countries.

The Millennium Summit reaffirmed the

Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development

goal of reducing by half the number of people living in

extreme poverty by 2015. Despite that, abject poverty,

a narrow resource base and, hence, broad dependence

on overseas development aid, unsustainable levels of

debt and the deleterious effects of the HIV/AIDS

pandemic continue to be part of everyday reality for

the majority of the people in the world. In some

regions of sub-Saharan Africa poverty has actually

increased, posing a serious threat to democratic

governance processes through the erosion of human

rights and human dignity, as well as the deterioration of

the already narrow natural resource base. In addition,

the number of least developed countries has more than

doubled since 1971, when the United Nations set up

that category of countries.

A more rapid and sustainable exit from debt is

thus imperative. This calls for urgent implementation

of an enhanced and expanded Heavily Indebted Poor

Countries Debt Initiative (HIPC). It further calls for

more comprehensive measures, including converting

the remaining bilateral debts of the least developed

countries into grants, widening HIPC to benefit more

countries, increasing the levels of official development

assistance, ensuring markets for the products of least

developed countries and encouraging greater volumes

of foreign direct investment to Africa.

Lesotho therefore looks forward to further

discussion of these measures during the coming

International Conference on Financing for

Development, the convening of which we fully

support. We also believe that the Programme of Action

for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade

2001-2010 is a benchmark framework for accelerating

the sustained economic growth and sustainable

development of the poorest and weakest segment of the

international community.

Housing remains a critical pillar of sustainable

economic development. It is the single most important

and obvious indicator of individual aspirations and

their fulfilment. Testimony to this is the renewal of our

commitment, earlier this year, to the principles of the

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Habitat Agenda, which are encapsulated in the ideas of

adequate shelter for all and sustainable human

settlements for development. Poverty continues to be a

major factor for developing countries’ failure to realize

these twin goals of the Habitat Agenda.

In the same vein, a healthy population is an

absolute requirement for social and economic

development. We thus recognize the enormous

challenges posed by HIV/AIDS and other infectious

diseases. For Africa, which is host to 70 per cent of the

people infected with HIV/AIDS worldwide, this

scourge is reversing hard-won gains in economic and

social development. Political commitment and

leadership are therefore essential for building national

capacities to develop and implement comprehensive

national strategies for HIV/AIDS prevention, care,

support and treatment, all of which require

mobilization of resources. We therefore welcome the

outcome of the special session on HIV/AIDS held

during the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly,

and hope that the Global AIDS and Health Fund

announced by the Secretary-General will soon become

operational to provide funding on a grant basis to the

most affected countries.

Lesotho welcomes the global movement to ensure

that every child enjoys a better beginning, and hence a

better future, and has undertaken to renew its

commitment to ensure the rights of children. Our most

auspicious endeavour to that end was the progressive

introduction, in the year 2000, of free primary

education beginning with standard 1 pupils. We believe

that this is a step forward in ensuring sustained

economic growth and poverty reduction. The new

agreed dates for the postponed children’s summit

should ensure that we do not lose the momentum for

creating a better world for children.

Lesotho also remains keenly aware of the

important role that women play in the advancement of

the nation’s social and economic development

processes, as well as of the need to sustain their

involvement and participation at all levels. To that end,

we have heeded the call to States parties to the

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women that have entered

reservations to the Convention to review those

reservations. Our own reservation to the Convention

has been amended with a view to withdrawing it at a

later stage.

The events in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda,

as well as the gruesome images of women and children

whose limbs were hacked off by rebel forces in Sierra

Leone, have shown that accountability for genocide,

war crimes and crimes against humanity, and universal

jurisdiction over those crimes, are key to bringing an

end to the cycle of impunity that we have witnessed

over the years. Lesotho’s tangible contribution towards

ending the culture of impunity is demonstrated by its

support and assistance to the activities of the

International Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda

aimed at bringing those responsible for the most

egregious crimes to justice, as well as its support for

the creation of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, for

which Lesotho has pledged $100,000 over three years.

The first payment of $40,000 in respect of the first year

has already been deposited. We call on the international

community to provide adequate funding in order that

the Special Court for Sierra Leone may come into

operation.

While the pace of ratifications for the Statute of

the International Criminal Court is encouraging, more

needs to be done if that Court is to become a reality

soon. Adequate time and resources should therefore be

made available for the Preparatory Commission to

fulfil its mandate within the first half of 2002.

International peace and security continue to be a

major challenge for the United Nations in the twenty-

first century. While some positive developments have

been recorded on various issues that are critical to the

security of the international community, much more

still needs to be done in pursuit of a more peaceful

world — a world free from weapons of mass

destruction; a world free from the arsenals of illicit

small arms and light weapons; and a world with

strengthened global norms for nuclear non-proliferation

and disarmament.

We renew our call to those who remain outside

the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear

Weapons (NPT) to join the Treaty, and urge the

nuclear-weapon States to continue full compliance with

obligations assumed under the Treaty.

The recent spate of biowarfare threats have also

heightened the urgent need to devise effective

compliance measures that will make the proliferation

of biological weapons much harder and prevent such

weapons from falling into the hands of terrorist groups.

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The historic United Nations Conference on the

Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All

Its Aspects has succeeded in highlighting the human

suffering and insecurity engendered by the excessive

accumulation and illicit transfer of those weapons.

Though not fully satisfactory, particularly to those of

us who have suffered most from this scourge, the

measures envisaged in the Programme of Action are a

historic first step towards curbing this menace. It is

now up to all of us to forge meaningful partnerships to

ensure effective implementation of the Programme as

we move together to free the world of these weapons.

While peace has continued to hold in many

regions of the world, Africa has experienced setbacks

in that regard, as violent conflicts have continued

unabated. The sad legacy of our colonial past, wherein

State-sponsored activities facilitated the systematic

plunder of Africa’s resources, have been replaced by

foreign companies and individuals in pursuit of the so-

called bottom line, whose sole motive is the

maximization of profit. The link between conflicts, the

easy availability of arms, an abundance of natural

resources and the greed of these individuals have

totally devalued African lives. In other words, the

worth of African lives in the year 2001 is much the

same as during the time of slavery in the nineteenth

century. We call upon the same collective conscience

of the international community that condemned and

succeeded in eradicating slavery to speak with equal

vehemence against this evil in our time.

The volatile and explosive situation in the Middle

East remains highly regrettable. Lesotho supports the

creation of an independent Palestinian State on the

basis of Security Council resolutions, a State that

should coexist in peace with its neighbours.

We call on all parties to conflicts around the

world to intensify efforts to create conditions

conducive to the implementation of the agreements

reached and relevant Security Council resolutions, as

well as to the effective engagement of the United

Nations. We are encouraged by the developments in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Sierra

Leone, and applaud the efforts of all parties to bring

peace to their countries.

We are, however, saddened by the lack of

progress in the implementation of agreements relating

to the settlement, once and for all, of two of the largest

running conflicts, in Angola and the Saharan Arab

Democratic Republic. We in Lesotho are convinced

that the Houston accords remain the foundation for

self-determination in the latter, while, undoubtedly, the

Lusaka Protocol on Angola remains the only viable

basis for peace in that sisterly country.

In conclusion, Lesotho renews its commitment to

multilateral cooperation and the principles enshrined in

the United Nations Charter. The current difficult times

call for the strong support of the United Nations and

the multilateral processes if the Organization is to

effectively address the new global issues and

challenges that confront it.