Mali, 2002

At the

outset, I should like to tell you, Sir, how pleased my

delegation is to see you presiding over the work of the

fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly. To your

predecessor, Mr. Han Seung-soo, I should also like to

express my sincere and warm congratulations on the

competence, devotion and authority with which he

guided the work of the fifty-sixth session.

I should also like to express again to Mr. Kofi

Annan, Secretary-General of the Organization, the

warm congratulations and profound gratitude of the

Government of Mali for the effectiveness and wisdom

he has shown in managing the concerns of the

international community in a particularly difficult

context. I take this opportunity to reiterate to the

Secretary-General the thanks of His Excellency Mr.

Amadou Toumani Touré, President of the Republic of

Mali, for the confidence that the Secretary-General has

placed in him in seeking solutions to certain conflicts

that are shaking Africa. He expresses Mali ‘s readiness

to continue to work for the preservation of international

peace and security, particularly in Africa.

Mali wishes to welcome to the Organization

Switzerland and Timor-Leste, whose admission

strengthens the universal character of the United

Nations.

The fifty-seventh session of the General

Assembly is opening in an international context

marked by the persistence of areas of tension, of

development inequalities and of growing poverty

among the peoples in developing countries, of the sad

consequences of globalization, of natural disasters and

of the extremely difficult consequences of the terrorist

attacks of 11 September 2001, whose first anniversary

the international community has just commemorated.

At the time, Mali vigorously condemned those attacks,

which nothing can justify. Since then, it has

participated in the great international campaign of the

fight against terrorism. In so doing, it has ratified all

international legal instruments related to the fight

against terrorism. Likewise, important means and

mechanisms have been put in place so that Mali ‘s

national territory cannot be used for the preparation or

perpetration of terrorist acts.

In order to meet the terrorist threat, it is important

that the international community strengthen

cooperation among its members. Furthermore, Mali

calls for integrated and sustained global action, in

which the United Nations should play the premier role.

It reiterates the appeal of Africa, of the Non-Aligned

Movement and of the Organization of the Islamic

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Conference for the holding of an international

conference under the auspices of the United Nations

aimed at swiftly concluding a universally accepted

legal instrument on international terrorism.

In Mali, the year 2002 was devoted to the

holding, for the third time, of pluralistic, democratic

and peaceful elections, at the outcome of which His

Excellency Mr. Amadou Toumani Touré assumed the

country ‘s highest post. Those elections are sufficient

proof that Mali ‘s democratic institutions have taken

root, and they support the democratic culture of the

Malian people.

Here, I must express, on behalf of the people and

the Government of Mali, my heartfelt thanks to all our

partners for their contribution to the organization, the

holding and the success of those elections. Mali is

deeply attached to the consolidation of the rule of law,

to the preservation of peace and security and to the

improvement of the living conditions of populations. In

that regard, our conviction remains that we must

deepen, promote and respect those values.

For Mali, republican and democratic institutions

must be renewed only through democratic institutional

mechanisms that have been established in advance. The

strengthening of good governance, the consolidation of

the democratic process, food security, the improvement

of the educational and health systems, the organization

and effective functioning of justice, actions to promote

children and women, and the fight against poverty and

corruption are, inter alia, the challenges to which the

new Government of Mali is committed to face.

Likewise, as part of its policy of economic and

social development, Mali is working, with the help of

its development partners, to implement macroeconomic

reforms designed to re-launch the process of growth

and development.

Mali is resolutely determined to guarantee

individual security in all its dimensions. That why my

country is a full-fledged member of the Human

Security Network. It fully agrees that there is a need to

harmonize efforts with regard to the destruction of anti-

personnel landmines and the fight against the illicit

trade in and the proliferation of small arms and light

weapons, with a view to adopting a United Nations

programme of action to reduce the human suffering

caused by those scourges.

Stability, peace and security are prerequisites for

any process of true development in Africa. Despite the

significant progress made in resolving certain African

conflicts, our continent continues to be faced with a

number of ongoing problems, including debt, the

continuing fall in the price of raw materials, the

democratic deficit, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, malaria

and difficulties related to humanitarian assistance.

Those issues constitute a serious impediment to

development efforts in Africa.

Mali welcomes the fact that the long fratricidal

conflict in Angola has come to an end and pays a well-

deserved tribute to the people and the leaders of

Angola for the courage that they have shown and the

efforts that they are continuing to make to consolidate

peace and bring about national reconciliation.

I should like to take this opportunity to pay

tribute to the United Nations for its valuable

contribution to the search for a resolution of the

Angolan conflict.

I should also like to pay tribute to my compatriot,

the late Alioune Blondin Beye, a talented diplomat who

was the Special Representative of the

Secretary-General for Angola from 1994 until the time

of his death in June 1998. Alioune Blondin Beye made

the supreme sacrifice on behalf of peace in Angola.

The recent signing of a peace agreement between

the main parties to the conflict in the Democratic

Republic of the Congo is a further reason for hope.

These glimmers of hope for conflict management on

the continent will require intense support from the

international community, which must provide further

support for Africa's efforts through in the form of

resources and mechanisms that are capable of

providing security and promoting development,

stability and peace.

The launching of the African Union, which has

replaced the Organization of African Unity, certainly

represents the most decisive historic and political event

on the African continent this year. The African Union

will enable the continent to plan for its future more

clearly, take responsibility for its own development,

prevent and manage conflict and promote partnership

and international cooperation that is better adapted to

the expectations of the population.

The recent adoption at Durban of the Protocol

Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security

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Council of the African Union, a standing decision-

making body for conflict management and resolution in

Africa, represents an important step forward in the

setting up of a collective rapid-reaction security system

designed to facilitate an appropriate and effective

regional response in dealing with conflict situations

and crises in Africa. It is also the appropriate tool to

bolster the efforts of the Security Council in fulfilling

its main responsibility for the maintenance of

international peace and security, in particularly in

Africa. Mali has already begun to take the necessary

measures to ratify that important instrument.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development

(NEPAD) also deserves ongoing support from the

international community. Indeed, NEPAD offers the

international community a historic opportunity to

establish a credible partnership with Africa — a

partnership founded on shared responsibility.

Mali remains deeply concerned about the

dramatic developments of the situation in the Middle

East. The responsibility of the international community

in dealing with that situation remains a commitment

aimed at a global, just and lasting peace in the Middle

East — a peace founded on Security Council

resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) and the

principle of land for peace.

The creation of a Palestinian State — the central

issue of the Middle East question — side by side with

Israel, within safe and internationally recognized

borders, in accordance with Security Council resolution

1397 (2002), would be the best guarantee of a just and

lasting peace in the region.

On a different subject, Mali accords priority to

international cooperation on the basis of international

law in the search for a lasting solution to conflicts that

are of concern to the international community. This

principle should apply to the handling of the Iraqi

issue.

The creation of the International Criminal Court,

whose Statute was adopted in Rome, will not only

make it possible to bring to justice those who commit

the most serious crimes that infringe on the dignity of

the human person, but also will provide an instrument

of deterrence that contributes to the maintenance of

international peace and security. In this respect, my

country would like to reaffirm its full support for the

fight against impunity and for full respect for human

dignity.

My country would like to appeal to those

countries that have still not acceded to the Statute of

the International Criminal Court to do so in order to

strengthen the legitimacy of that institution.

We are faced with a number of economic

problems that are impeding the full growth of several

of our States. The globalization of the economy has

contributed greatly to a serious imbalance whose chief

victims are the developing countries. It has led in

particular to the impoverishment of a large number of

people, to environmental degradation and to large-scale

migration.

External debt is a heavy burden for poor

countries. The money used to service the debt has to

come from the meagre resources of those countries,

which seriously handicaps any attempt to re-launch

growth and development. Despite the measures agreed

to aimed at alleviating the debt burden for poor

countries and allowing access to the markets of the

countries of the North, the inequalities persist and

poverty continues to worsen.

New measures designed to establish closer links

between debt- and poverty-reduction activities should

continue. More flexible mechanisms need to be set up,

however, in order to mobilize and utilize the resources

generated by the application of the Heavily Indebted

Poor Countries Debt Initiative. In this respect, it is

highly desirable for the developed countries and the

international financial institutions to envisage measures

capable of enabling the developing countries to move

further towards sustainable development and to benefit

from globalization. Fulfilling the development

objectives set forth in the Millennium Declaration

would bring that about.

Mali warmly welcomes United Nations initiatives

in support of the least developed countries, as

exemplified by the Brussels Programme of Action. My

country welcomes the holding in March 2002 at

Monterrey of the International Conference on

Financing for Development and, more recently, the

Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable

Development.

The conclusions and recommendations that came

out of those two important meetings reflect the

determination of the international community to

commit itself in a resolute manner to achieving the

objectives contained in the Millennium Declaration.

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The Government of Mali also encourages

institutions and Governments throughout the world to

implement the relevant provisions contained in the

Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, since it

is true that development policies and strategies

intended to reduce poverty must necessarily take

account of the problems of ageing.

The democratization and restructuring of the

main organs of the United Nations desired by the

overwhelming majority of Member States, would

greatly contribute to peace and security in the world. In

particular, the democratization of the Security Council,

whose structure no longer reflects the realities of

today's world, would reflect our common

determination to make it a more effective, more

legitimate and more representative body.

Our peoples are waiting. They are waiting for us

to lead them forward towards rebirth in the new

century, towards the building of a new world, rich in

diversity, more just and more united.