Mongolia, 1993

At the outset,

permit me to offer to you, Sir, my delegation’s sincere

congratulations on your unanimous election to the presidency

of the forty-eighth session of the General Assembly. Your

professional experience as your country’s Permanent

Representative to the United Nations will undoubtedly be an

asset in our important deliberations.

We pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Stoyan Ganev,

for his dedicated service. We applaud the Secretary-General,

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his bold and tireless efforts

to strengthen the world Organization. We warmly welcome

the new Members and wish them well.

A retrospective look at developments since the end of

the cold war reveals the complexity of advancing towards a

new fabric of international relations. On the one hand, the

spirit of cooperation and interaction is becoming prevalent.

The new democracies are making headway in the face of the

formidable difficulties of transition. Recent events in Russia

are ample evidence of this. We are confident that the

democratic forces, led by President Yeltsin, will overcome

the present ordeal and succeed in their endeavours. The

significance for the region and the entire world of the

success of Russia’s reforms can hardly be overemphasized.

Furthermore, solutions are being found even to the most

protracted regional conflicts. The recent historic act of

mutual recognition between Israel and the Palestine

Liberation Organization (PLO) and the interim peace

agreement are a case in point. We hope that this will lead

to a just and comprehensive solution to the Arab-Israeli

conflict.

An important breakthrough towards democracy and a

multiracial society in South Africa has been made. Peace

and the national reconciliation that had eluded Cambodia for

so long has been restored to this land of ancient civilization.

Landmark agreements on the prohibition of chemical

weapons and on the reduction of nuclear armaments have

been concluded.

In the meantime, it is clear that old, deep-seated

problems still await solutions and new ones, once held in

check by the circumstances of the time, are emerging.

Indeed, no tangible progress has been registered in

addressing the issues of poverty, external debt, drugs,

organized crime, the widening gap between the affluent and

the poor, and environmental crises. Though the cold war is

over, the "hot wars" have multiplied. Suffice it to mention

the continuing tragedies of Bosnia and Herzegovina,

Somalia, Nagorny-Karabakh and Abkhazia.

It is widely recognized today that the concept of

development has acquired a multidimensional character

encompassing not only economic growth, but also political,

social and environmental aspects. Moreover, greater

emphasis is being placed on the human dimension of

development, as in the final analysis the well-being of

people stands as a true measurement of development. We

believe that the United Nations is the only, and irreplaceable,

mechanism to translate this concept into reality.

In this respect, the United Nations-sponsored world

conferences on population and on women and the World

Summit for Social Development are called upon to open up

better prospects to that end. No lasting solution to today’s

various problems can be sought unless the developmental

challenges are adequately addressed. The concept of

development and its practical aspects will certainly be

enriched by the Secretary-General’s interim report on an

agenda for development and its upcoming discussion during

this session.

Now is the time resolutely to address the long-standing

agenda relating to economic disparities between the North

and the South, including eradication of poverty, debt relief,

elimination of trade protectionism and an early and

successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round. In this regard,

Forty-eighth session - 7 October l993 11

Mongolia welcomes the meeting of the Chairman of the

Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of Seven last July in

Tokyo, which represents a first step towards re-launching the

North-South dialogue. My delegation believes it important

that following serious consideration by the Assembly, at this

session, of the Non-Aligned Movement initiative on the

reactivation of the North-South dialogue to strengthen

international cooperation for development a positive decision

be taken in this regard.

It is of signal importance that we maintain the

momentum gained at the Rio Conference on Environment

and Development through effective follow-up, at both the

international and the national level. We commend the

dynamic role of the Commission on Sustainable

Development as a central political forum for the monitoring

and review of the implementation of Agenda 21. Mongolia

recently ratified the Convention on Climate Change and the

Convention on Biodiversity; our national plan of action to

implement Agenda 21 is being formulated.

As a country where desertification is a major challenge,

Mongolia deems it necessary that a convention on that

subject be concluded by 1995.

Mongolia believes that the observance of human rights

in accordance with universally accepted norms is essential in

promoting equitable cooperation among States. Respect for

human rights and fundamental freedoms can in no way be

reconciled with biased criteria which divide countries into

big and small, developed and underdeveloped, majority and

minority groups, or along ethnic, racial and religious lines.

Furthermore, Mongolia proceeds from the premise that

human rights and fundamental freedoms, as universal values,

do not recognize borders.

It is of the utmost importance that the Vienna

Conference on Human Rights, held last June, was able to

reach an agreement on the indivisibility of economic, social,

cultural, political and civil rights, and on the need to respect

and implement them on an equal footing.

It is gratifying to note that with the demise of the cold

war, propaganda on disarmament issues has faded away and

a businesslike atmosphere of cooperation has taken shape.

Earlier this year the Treaty on substantive reductions of

strategic offensive armaments was concluded between the

Russian Federation and the United States. Also, a

commendable initiative with respect to a moratorium on

nuclear testing took shape. The Geneva Conference on

Disarmament has decided to commence negotiations on a

comprehensive test-ban treaty.

As a country uniquely positioned between the two

nuclear-weapon Powers, Mongolia attaches exceptional

importance to this issue. That is precisely why my country

last year declared its territory a nuclear-weapon-free zone.

In this context Mongolia welcomes the idea of turning

Central Asia into such a zone.

The issue of the timely and full implementation of

agreements on the reduction of nuclear weapons and the

complete prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons

should not escape the priority attention of the world

community. The cessation of nuclear-weapon tests and the

strict observance of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is acquiring special importance.

We support the indefinite extension of the NPT at the review

Conference in 1995. It is of great importance that the

parties to the Treaty, especially the nuclear-weapon States,

honour their commitments and refrain from any action that

might undermine it.

Mongolia is entering its fourth year of democratic

reforms. We, like many others in our position, are facing

formidable challenges. As an underdeveloped, land-locked

country inadequately integrated into the world transportation

network, with a high vulnerability to natural calamities,

Mongolia is experiencing added difficulties in its transition.

In addition to the political and economic reforms there

is the onerous task of dealing with spiritual renewal. During

the years of the socialist experiment, we Mongols were

forced to abandon our centuries-old traditions and cultural

heritage. Suffice it to say that virtually all the houses of

worship - sanctuaries of spiritual life - over 700 in all, were

destroyed, and the traditional script of the Mongols, an

important cultural heritage of mankind, was buried in

oblivion. The task is now to rectify this wrong. This is a

nation-wide task requiring enormous efforts and resources;

we cannot leave it to take care of itself.

For all the problems, Mongolia’s democratic reforms

are steadily gaining ground. The new democratic system of

governance proclaimed in the 1992 democratic Constitution

is being consolidated. The first-ever direct presidential

elections, held last June, culminated in the choice of a

President put forward by the new political parties. The legal

foundation of the ongoing reforms is being strengthened. It

has come to embrace all the key aspects of societal life.

The present Government has set itself the task of

checking the economic decline within a two-year period.

And the target seems to be within the realm of the possible.

We associate these gains primarily with the understanding

12 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

and support of the international community. In recent years

a donor community in support of Mongolia has emerged. A

donor meeting sponsored recently by the World Bank held

its third round in Tokyo, in which 23 countries and 6

international organizations took part. Grants and soft loans

by donor Governments significantly help in alleviating the

present difficulties, and lay a new basis for future

development. In addition, we are keenly interested in

attracting private-sector investment in Mongolia. This would

not only contribute to economic recovery but would also

help make future cooperation with our partners mutually

advantageous. The revised Foreign Investment Law creates

favourable conditions for such investment opportunities.

Furthermore, we consider that active involvement in

regional economic cooperation is an essential factor in

fulfilling the tasks of transition. With this in mind, we are

interested, for instance, in becoming a member of the Asia-

Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (APEC). We hope

that the States members of that organization will find it

possible to understand and support our position.

The United Nations has emerged as an important focal

point of international efforts and has assumed greatly

increased responsibilities in the areas of peacemaking,

peace-keeping and peace-building. The detailed report of the

Secretary-General on the work of the Organization is a lucid

illustration of that point.

Mongolia fully supports the efforts designed to reform

the United Nations, especially to restructure and revitalize

the activities of the General Assembly and to ensure that the

composition of the Security Council reflects the changing

realities of the day and the dramatically increased

membership of the world Organization.

Today, the United Nations is wrestling with many

problems and trying hard to ensure that it is able to meet the

many challenges of a rapidly changing world. It goes

without saying that the success of this undertaking will

depend on painstaking efforts and, above all, on the political

will and greater realism of Member States.