Mali, 2001

At the

outset, I would like to express our condolences to the

Governments of the United States and the Dominican

32

Republic, and to the families of the victims of this

morning’s tragic plane crash.

I express my warmest congratulations to Mr. Han

Seung-soo on his election as President of the fifty-sixth

session of the General Assembly. I wish to assure him

of my delegation’s complete support in the exercise of

his difficult and lofty mission. I am convinced that,

with his experience and talents as a seasoned diplomat,

he will guide our discussions to success. To his

predecessor, Mr. Harri Holkeri, I would like to express

my sincerest and warmest congratulations on the

competence, dedication, effectiveness and authority

that he displayed throughout his term of office, which

was so rich in important events for the life of our

Organization.

May I also take this opportunity to congratulate

Mr. Kofi Annan on his re-election to the post of

Secretary-General of our Organization, and I would

like once again to express to him Mali’s deepest

appreciation for his steadfast efforts and his

determination in the quest for a better world in the face

of the many and complex challenges of the world of

today. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the

United Nations and to Mr. Annan reflects the work

accomplished by the Secretary-General over the past

five years and is a source of legitimate pride to me as

an African.

Our fifty-sixth session is of particular importance,

being held as it is in the aftermath of the brutal terrorist

attacks that plunged the American nation into

mourning on 11 September 2001. The Government of

Mali has firmly condemned these heinous acts and

expressed its solidarity with the American people and

its support for the fight against terrorism in all its

forms and manifestations. Mali has already taken the

measures necessary for the implementation of Security

Council resolution 1373 (2001), inter alia, through the

establishment of an inter-ministerial committee in

charge of implementing and coordinating international

measures. We have also undertaken to ratify various

conventions against terrorism in order to complete the

vital legal arsenal that we need to make a complete

contribution to the collective international efforts under

the auspices of the United Nations, and also to regional

actions. In this respect, in addition to the Organization

of the Islamic Conference Convention on Combating

International Terrorism, we appeal for the entry into

force of the important Organization of African Unity

Convention on the Prevention and Combating of

Terrorism, adopted at Algiers in July 1999. We also

call for an effective partnership with Africa to

strengthen its capacity to combat terrorism.

The terrorist acts of 11 September, incompatible

with the lofty and tolerant message of Islam, have

clearly shown the vulnerability of our current

international system and have emphasized the need for

increased international cooperation in order to deal

with this situation. This is why the tragic events of 11

September 2001 call for the action now being taken

against terrorism, but they also mean that we must in

the medium and long term reflect on the further ways

of combating terrorism that we must devise. But above

all, these events mean that we must endeavour

vigorously to implement the Millennium Declaration

programme of action in order to ensure prosperity for

the largest possible number of people.

In this context, Mali advocates integrated,

sustained global action in which the United Nations

should play the primary role. While reiterating Africa’s

appeal for the holding of an international conference on

terrorism, under the auspices of the United Nations,

Mali intends to support the initiatives of the Secretary-

General and of his Special Representative, Mr. Lakhdar

Brahimi, whom we congratulate on his appointment.

Deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation in

Afghanistan, we call for increased and coordinated

emergency humanitarian assistance for the Afghan

people.

The maintenance of peace and security requires

strict control of weapons. Mali will actively and

resolutely continue to support international and

regional efforts in the field of disarmament and the

non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and other

weapons of mass destruction. The question of small

arms, as we see it, is another source of concern. In fact,

small arms contribute to the breakdown of the social

balance, fuel conflicts and destabilize States, thus

jeopardizing all development efforts.

Mali, which hosted the African preparatory

conference, will work towards the success of a follow-

up to the conclusions of the United Nations Conference

on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons

in All Its Aspects and towards the full implementation

of the Programme of Action resulting from that

important Conference. The West African experience in

this respect constitutes an important initiative to be

supported through the declaration of an Economic

33

Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

moratorium on the importation, exportation and

manufacture of small arms and light weapons and the

Programme for Coordination and Assistance for

Security and Development in Africa.

The West African subregion remains

characterized by the persistence of conflict, a high

level of poverty, illicit trade in weapons and the

proliferation of armed bands. In order to deal with

these conflicts, ECOWAS has given priority to a

regional approach for the prevention and management

of conflicts in order to deal with the root causes of

conflict and its humanitarian consequences. The

ECOWAS protocol on the Mechanism for Conflict

Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping

and Security, adopted in 1999, is a major tool for

regional prevention and management of conflicts. Its

innovations include its Mediation and Security

Council, its early warning system and the fact that it is

rooted in the consolidation and protection of

democracy and human rights.

Mali welcomes and encourages the positive

developments in the peace process in Sierra Leone that

have taken place since the second meeting of the

Committee of Six of the ECOWAS Mediation and

Security Council with the United Nations, the

Government of Sierra Leone and the Revolutionary

United Front (RUF) on 2 May 2001 in Abuja, Nigeria.

Progress, although still fragile, has been made in

the Mano River Union region. As evidence of this we

can cite the ministerial meetings among the three

countries, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. ECOWAS

intends to continue its efforts to help make the Mano

River Union a pillar of stability and development. The

recent summit of heads of State and Government of

ECOWAS on a global and comprehensive approach to

security questions stresses once again the will of West

Africa to shoulder its responsibilities, helped by its

various partners.

The implementation of these initiatives and West

African approaches to conflict prevention and

management will require assistance from the

international community, in particular the United

Nations. In this respect, it is gratifying to note that a

genuine partnership has been established between the

United Nations and ECOWAS. We firmly encourage

the establishment of the United Nations Office for West

Africa, as recommended by the inter-institutional

mission that visited the region from 6 to 27 March

2001.

The special session of the General Assembly on

children will be an opportunity to build a progressive

and universalist vision in order to promote a “world

worthy of children”, with the participation of all,

within the framework of a world movement for

children. ECOWAS, which has prepared for that

gathering, is continuing its efforts to implement the

Accra plan of action on the situation of children in

conflict with the opening of a special office entrusted

with this question, the Optional Protocol that will soon

be adopted on the sale of children and the regional

initiative on joint vaccination days. In the near future, a

decade for the culture of children’s rights will be

examined.

The creation of the International Criminal Court

will not only make it possible to bring to trial the

perpetrators of the gravest crimes against the dignity of

the human person, but will also be an instrument of

deterrence, which can thus contribute to the

maintenance of international peace and security. In this

regard, I recall that Mali has already ratified the Rome

Statute, thus expressing its support for the struggle

against impunity and for the full respect of human

dignity. We appeal to others to help make the court a

reality as early as next year.

In the field of human security, we must provide

an appropriate response — a global and urgent

response — to the scourge of HIV/AIDS following the

special session of June 2001, while at the same time

increasing our potential to fight malaria.

Our responsibility is great indeed with regard to

the persistence of inequalities and the increase in

poverty. The peoples of the world aspire to education,

employment, health and nutritional self-sufficiency —

in other words, they hope to attain more dignified and

humane living conditions. In this context, Africa,

which intends to make its union a reality, wants to

become master of its own destiny. It needs solidarity to

help it strengthen its capacities and mobilize its own

development resources. We will work hard toward the

implementation of the Programme of Action of the

Third United Nations Conference on the Least

Developed Countries, held in Brussels in May 2001. As

was stated by President Konare, that Conference, by

the very fact that it was being convened, signalled

progress

34

“... and it is also a test of the international

community following the Millennium

Declaration. There will be success only if we see

a will to move to concrete action, if we envisage

stronger and bolder measures to finance

development, to increase the effectiveness of

foreign aid and to resolve the problems that are

hampering the sustainable development of the

least developed countries.”

The International Conference on Financing for

Development, which will be held in Monterrey in

March 2002, should be an important event and an

interface for dialogue to find new means of

contributing to the financing of development and to

reaffirm the political will for concrete development

objectives. This is why Mali believes that the

Conference will have to lead to the adoption of a

concise political declaration — a declaration with

precise strategic objectives reflecting the collective

will to act to resolve the problem of financing

development and to lay the foundations for a real world

partnership.

Africa is pleased that the high-level debate of the

2001 substantive session of the Economic and Social

Council (ECOSOC), which was held in Geneva in July,

had as its theme “The role of the United Nations

system in supporting the efforts of African countries to

achieve sustainable development”, and awaits the

realization of the measures envisaged there. This role

must not be merely a declared one — it must lead to

concrete results. This is why we hope that the

Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization

(WTO), which is now under way in Doha, Qatar, will

promote new progress and decisive initiatives to make

it possible for Africa to develop its assets.

The entry into force of the African Union, whose

constituent act was signed in Lomé on 12 July 2000,

reflects the commitment of African leaders to the

integration of our continent. In fact, the establishment

of the African Union and the launching of the New

Partnership for African Development, aimed at

eliminating poverty through sustainable development,

can help support the dynamics of regional integration.

In this respect, we appeal to the international

community to assist this African initiative, which is so

promising for the future of the peoples of our

continent.

Our Organization is, more than ever before,

called to act to promote international peace and

security and to achieve development for all. Here in the

United Nations, we must act as full-fledged Member

States, shapers of our shared future. We say this in

order to recall our shared responsibility to bring about

peace in the Middle East, the Balkans and the Great

Lakes region — to mention just these cases — and to

do justice to human nature. We share responsibility to

manifest more solidarity and to provide assistance to

resolve the many humanitarian crises that exist.

In the Middle East, the situation remains of

concern because of the persistence of violence in the

occupied Palestinian territories. Mali firmly condemns

the violence that has been suffered by the Palestinian

people, and we believe that Security Council

resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), the principle of

land for peace and the other relevant resolutions of the

United Nations must serve as a basis for negotiations

and the establishment of a just, global and lasting

peace. We call for the resumption of these negotiations

and reaffirm our unfailing attachment to the legitimate

rights of the fraternal Palestinian people, including the

right to the establishment of an independent State.

My delegation also expresses its hope that there

will be a definitive lifting of sanctions against the

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

On the Korean peninsula, the region from which

you come, my delegation hopes that the process of

reconciliation now under way will experience further

progress, in accordance with General Assembly

resolution 55/11, thanks to autonomous and

strengthened inter-Korean dialogue, and especially the

holding of a second summit in the near future. In this

spirit, my country will continue its action for the

reconciliation and peaceful reunification of the two

Koreas.

Adapting the United Nations to the demands of

our world is an urgent need. Mali remains convinced of

the vital necessity of democratizing the United Nations

and restructuring its main organs, making them more

representative and credible. A democratization of the

Security Council, whose structure no longer

corresponds to the realities of the world, will help

reflect the shared will to make that organ more

effective, representative and legitimate. Along these

lines, we reiterate the demands of Africa for an

equitable allocation of the two categories of seats, in

35

accordance with the Harare Declaration and the

decisions adopted by the heads of State and

Government of the Organization of African Unity.

In conclusion, the peoples of the United Nations

are watching us as we carry out the promises contained

in the Millennium Declaration. We must build a new

world — a world that reflects our intelligence, a world

of justice, a world that embodies the essential values of

all humanity.