Namibia, 1994

On behalf of the Namibian

delegation, I wish to congratulate you, Sir, on your

unanimous election as President of the General Assembly

at its forty-ninth session. As a distinguished diplomat and

public servant with long experience, you bring to your

office an outstanding record of wisdom, excellence and

industry. Côte d’Ivoire and Namibia have maintained close

relations of friendship and cooperation. On a personal

note, I take great pride in your brilliant election and extend

best wishes to you.

During his term of office, your distinguished

predecessor, Ambassador Samuel Insanally of Guyana,

introduced practical steps aimed at enhancing the work of

the General Assembly and promoting further our common

endeavours towards peace, partnership, development and

prosperity. We commend him for all this.

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, our illustrious

Secretary-General, has always kept his plate full in the

service of our Organization and its Charter. He has also,

on a continuous basis, kept intensifying his tireless efforts

in furtherance of world peace and security and, not least,

development and regional conflict management and

resolution. The Secretary-General’s report "An Agenda for

Development" is an important and timely complement to

"An Agenda for Peace". Together they reinforce General

Assembly resolution 48/165 on the "Renewal of the

dialogue on strengthening international economic

cooperation for development through partnership". I can

assure the Secretary-General that he can count on

Namibia’s support in the discharge of his mandate.

Following our independence, the Government and the

people of Namibia strongly felt that the decolonization of

our country was not complete because parts of our national

territory still remained under colonial occupation. In 1991,

from this rostrum, I called on the international community

and, particularly, the permanent members of the Security

Council to live up to their commitment, collectively and

severally, by ensuring the early reintegration of Walvis Bay

and the Offshore Islands into Namibia, in accordance with

Security Council resolution 432 (1978). Since then, I have

kept the international community abreast of the

negotiations to this end between the Governments of

Namibia and South Africa. In 1992, I reported on the

establishment of the Joint Administrative Authority, and

last year I announced the agreed date for the

reintegration.

It is with pride and satisfaction that I am now finally

informing the General Assembly and the world

community as a whole that, on 1 March 1994, Walvis

Bay and the Offshore Islands were reintegrated into

Namibia. Security Council Resolution 432 (1978) has

thus been fully implemented. On that emotional but

indeed solemn occasion marking the second independence

of Namibia, Mr. Sam Nujoma, President of Namibia,

proudly declared that at last Walvis Bay and the Offshore

Islands were forever liberated and reintegrated into

Namibia and he thanked the people of South Africa for

their role in making this possible. A huge and tumultuous

crowd of Namibians and friends from abroad who were

gathered there confirmed this truth with their loud cheers.

In the end, diplomacy has triumphed over confrontation.

I would like to place on record Namibia’s gratitude

to the Secretary-General, as well as the

Secretaries-General of the Organization of African Unity

and the Commonwealth, the member States of the South

African Development Community (SADC) and the front-

line States, as well as many other good friends who

rendered support and encouragement to Namibia in the

negotiating process.

At this point let me reiterate what I said then, that a

successful resolution of this issue will not only

consolidate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our

country but will also create enormous opportunity for

economic integration, community- building and prosperity

for the SADC region. New vistas for trade, transport and

communication would be opened up throughout southern

Africa. And this will further stimulate free movement of

goods, services and people in the area. Walvis Bay will

greatly complement other ports in the region.

It is a truism that peace, democracy, political

stability and good governance are among the basic pillars

for development. The southern African region presents a

good example of transformation from war, conflicts,

economic destabilization, political instability, social

disintegration, suppression and denial of human rights to

the new situation of peace, democracy, stability, regional

cooperation and hope for a more prosperous future for us

all. The former Southern Africa Development

Coordinating Conference (SADCC) vigorously sought to

counteract the destabilization and subversion of the

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countries of the region by the apartheid regime of South

Africa. The front-line States, with vigour and

determination, also pursued the fight for liberation, peace,

political stability, democratization and promotion and

protection of human rights. Now, with the eradication of

apartheid in South Africa and the installation of the first

democratically elected Government, the struggle for

freedom and political emancipation in southern Africa was

crowned with a gigantic victory.

The people of South Africa finally triumphed over the

apartheid system. The epoch making inauguration of

President Nelson Mandela, on 10 May 1994, was a victory

for humanity and a vindication of the untold sacrifices of

the South African people. The international community,

and in particular the countries and the peoples of southern

Africa, celebrated this joyous event, confident in the

conviction that peace had finally come to our region. We

in Namibia are particularly gratified to welcome the new

South Africa into the fold of the community of nations.

Just as we struggled together during the apartheid era, we

look forward to strengthened partnership for development

and prosperity for our people and the region.

The time for reconstruction and economic cooperation

in the region has finally dawned. We are convinced that

the transformation in 1992 of the Southern African

Development Coordinating Conference into the Southern

African Development Community (SADC) will further

consolidate regional economic cooperation and all-round

development for the prosperity of all our people.

This will indeed serve as a formidable building-block

towards the realization of the goals of the African

Economic Community, especially in the field of inter-Africa

trade, investment, capacity-building and human resource

development. In this context, Namibia welcomes with

appreciation President Clinton’s announcement yesterday in

Washington that the United States Government will make

a substantial financial contribution to reconstruction and

development in South Africa, as well as in other countries

in the region. It is good news for us that a friend of

Africa, Ambassador Andrew Young, will coordinate this

programme.

Let me mention here the recent first-ever meeting

between Foreign Ministers of the European Union and

SADC held last month in Berlin. The meeting was historic

and elevated the interaction and cooperative relations

between the two regions to a higher political and economic

level.

The past four years have seen throughout Africa a

process of free and fair elections, multi-party democracy,

the protection of human rights, press freedom, the rule of

law, and market-oriented economies. This process has

taken a firm direction and produced positive results in

southern Africa and in other parts of Africa. In 1989,

successful independence elections were held which

culminated in a free and independent Namibia in 1990.

In 1991, democratic elections were held in Zambia; in

1992 free and fair elections were held in Angola, though

regrettably UNITA refused to accept the results and

restarted the fighting; Lesotho held multi-party democratic

elections in 1993; and this year, South Africa and Malawi

underwent democratic transformations. In October,

Botswana and Mozambique will hold democratic

elections. Multi-party democratic, presidential and

parliamentary elections are scheduled in Namibia in

December this year. Likewise, 1995 will see multi-party

democratic elections in Tanzania and general elections in

Zimbabwe. This would mean that the vision for

deepening democratization, peace, prosperity and true

partnership in SADC will be greatly boosted.

In the emerging world order resulting from the end

of the cold war and the victories scored by the forces of

liberation, the front-line States decided that the time had

come to transform themselves into a mechanism for

political consultations, conflict resolution, peace and

security in the SADC region. The new body which is

now being put together is intended to augment the

Organization of African Unity (OAU) mechanism for

conflict resolution and peace-keeping, and will serve

primarily as the political and security arm of SADC itself.

The countries of SADC, through this mechanism, are

committed to defend and protect constitutional order and

the rule of law. Through their common vision for peace

and development, a task force of three Heads of State

recently succeeded in peacefully redressing the attempted

overthrow of the democratically elected Government of

Lesotho. It was a first major test, and the SADC leaders

rose to the occasion and defused what was potentially an

explosive situation with serious consequences for the

whole region.

Africa needs to produce similar success stories,

through concerted regional initiatives, in other conflict

situations such as Rwanda, Burundi, Liberia, Somalia, the

Sudan and others. Naturally, we welcome the serious

efforts which are being made by neighbouring African

States in and relating to each one of these trouble spots.

To this end, Africa and the international community alike

should heed the appeals for contributions to the OAU

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Peace Fund. In Namibia, we believe that once given

adequate financial and human resources Mr. Salim Ahmed

Salim, the OAU Secretary-General, and his staff are

capable of implementing expeditiously the relevant

decisions of the succeeding summits of African leaders.

In Angola, it is our strong expectation that the

protracted negotiations currently under way in Lusaka

appear poised for an imminent and successful conclusion.

The Government and the people of Namibia are indeed

awaiting the successful resolution of this bloody conflict.

In their own modest way, the Government and the people

of Namibia will continue to play a constructive role to

hasten this process. The statement made last week from

this rostrum by the Foreign Minister of Angola

demonstrated once again the flexibility and genuine

goodwill of the Angolan Government to reach a peaceful

settlement in the interest of the suffering Angolan people.

UNITA, it is sad to say, continues to obstruct progress and

wage war. It should be made to heed the urgent warnings

of the Security Council. The United Nations should, in the

meantime, keep itself in readiness to increase its personnel

in Angola as soon as a cease-fire is restored. The ever-

increasing peace-keeping missions of the United Nations

need sound financial support, if indeed peace is to be

achieved and preserved. I therefore urge the States

Members of our Organization to heed the

Secretary-General’s call in his current report for adequate

funding for peace-keeping operations.

Namibia is very much encouraged by the recent

conclusion of an agreement between the Governments of

the United States of America and the Republic of Cuba on

immigration issues. It is our fervent hope that the signing

of this agreement will serve as the beginning of serious

negotiations to resolve all aspects of the long-standing

dispute between them, in the interest of peace, trade,

development and good neighbourliness. I made the same

plea last year from here, and the latest development helps

to keep my hope alive. Namibia enjoys excellent friendly

and productive relations with both countries. It is in this

spirit that we advocate rapprochement between them.

We consider that in both elections and governance

popular participation is a prerequisite for development and

prosperity. At independence, however, Namibia inherited

a dual economy that was based on an unequal distribution

of wealth and disparity of income resulting from apartheid.

As a result, the majority of the population has incomes that

are far below the national average. To redress these

imbalances, the Government has been pursuing prudent

economic policies aimed at improving the lives of the

majority of our citizens. The direction is clear, although

the road ahead is replete with pitfalls. However, I must

say that the Government’s will and determination to

succeed cannot be doubted.

In 1991, Namibia sought least-developed-country

status to redress imbalances in education, health, housing

and employment. The granting by the General Assembly

of the "as if" least-developed-country option to Namibia,

if not the full status of least-developed country,

nonetheless allowed us to lay the foundation for the

reconstruction of our economic and social structures.

In spite of the Government’s best efforts in these

critical areas, imbalances persist in our society.

Provisional figures from the ongoing 1993-1994 National

Housing, Income and Expenditure Survey provide clear

evidence of skewed income distribution. Using private

household consumption as an indicator, preliminary

survey estimates show that 50 per cent of the poorest

households account for about 13 per cent of the total

consumption. The richest 10 per cent of the households

consume about 33 per cent.

The low literacy rate, the low level of manufacturing

industry and the extremely skewed distribution of income

are a result of institutionalized social inequality over long

periods. These social and economic sequels of the old

apartheid order continue to bedevil the Government’s

developmental efforts. In accordance with our current "as

if" status, and with the assistance of the World Bank, the

Namibian Government is at present preparing a public

expenditure review. The findings so far point to dramatic

income disparities, in spite of the efforts by the

Government that I alluded to earlier.

It is in this context that Namibia wishes to appeal

once again to the States Members of our Organization for

an extension of the "as if" least-developed-country status

for an additional number of years. This will be an

enormous contribution to our determined efforts to

improve the quality of life for disadvantaged Namibians.

We thank those States and agencies that have

implemented resolution 46/204, on "as if" least-

developed-country status and appeal for their continued

assistance, which will strengthen the foundation we have

laid for development and further consolidate our

democracy.

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The United Nations is centrally placed to address the

major global problems facing us. Its focus, however,

should not be limited to the issues of peace and security.

The other critical issues, reconstruction and development,

must be given the same serious attention. The World

Summit on Social Development, for example, must be a

forum for us to renew our commitment and political will to

effectively address the diverse social and economic

problems. We must come away from Copenhagen to act;

the international community this time will need to summon

more courage in order to translate into action the bold

decisions we shall take. There is a linkage between the

Plan of Action and follow-up mechanisms adopted at the

Cairo population Conference and the goals of the

Copenhagen and the Beijing Conferences in 1995. This

requires greater and systematic coordination, so as to ensure

economy, efficiency and the achievement of goals we all

share.

The continued marginalization and exclusion of

women from many spheres of life are a challenge to us all.

The platform for action to be adopted at the Fourth World

Conference on Women, to be held in Beijing next year,

must therefore assure the full and equal participation of

women at all levels of society. Namibia’s Constitution

calls for affirmative action and enlightened policies to

effect positive change in this area of human endeavour.

Namibia is an active member of the Zone of Peace

and Cooperation of the South Atlantic and will continue to

pursue the vigorous promotion of trade in the South

Atlantic region, including the development of fisheries and

marine resources as well as tourism on a sustainable basis.

The South Atlantic region comprises a great expanse of

waters, which the countries of the Zone are committed to

keep nuclear-free. Similarly, African countries are about to

sign a treaty for the denuclearization of the continent.

In recent weeks, important meetings of Ministers and

officials of the African and Latin American countries have

taken place in Punta del Este, Uruquay, and Brasilia, Brazil,

to further advance dialogue and cooperation on issues of

common interest. It was in this spirit of South-South

cooperation that Namibia supported the establishment of the

South Centre, towards whose operations we have already

made a significant contribution.

I should now like to state Namibia’s position on the

overall reform of the United Nations, and in particular

equitable representation on and increase in the membership

of the Security Council. Namibia does not believe that the

present decision- making machinery of the Security

Council will effectively serve the international community

in the twenty-first century. Change towards a more

representative Council would enhance its legitimacy,

credibility and effectiveness.

Representation on the Security Council must reflect

the phenomenal numerical growth in the membership of

the General Assembly. In line with the principle of

geographical and equitable representation, Africa is

entitled to an appropriate representation of no fewer than

two permanent seats on the Security Council. For us,

Security Council reform means more than merely adding

two or more industrialized permanent members. What is

required is democracy, transparency and fair play.

Namibia reiterates its position that the veto power is

outdated and undemocratic and should be abolished.

Equally, the General Assembly should not be allowed to

lose its authority, competence and relevance in the reform

process. Rather, it too needs further strengthening in all

aspects.

Namibia is of the strong view that the United

Nations, and Africa in particular, should leave no stone

unturned to ensure that the people of Western Sahara are

not left to face their fate alone. The decolonization and

political emancipation of Africa cannot be declared

complete without self-determination for them as well

through a democratic referendum jointly supervised by the

United Nations and the OAU.

With regard to the dispute between two of our

esteemed friends, India and Pakistan, on the question of

Jammu and Kashmir, Namibia urges them to pursue

peaceful dialogue and promote bilateral negotiations

without public confrontation.

On another issue, we are encouraged by Libya’s

acceptance of Security Council resolution 731 (1992) and

its expressed willingness to resolve the Lockerbie crisis

with the three Western Powers. Dialogue and diplomacy

should be placed on the front burner.

Next year the Non-Proliferation Treaty review and

extension Conference will be held. Namibia is a

signatory to the Treaty. It goes without saying that the

Conference will provide a golden opportunity for review,

assessment and extension of this vital Treaty, which has

so far helped to prevent nuclear war. There is also a

proposal by Zimbabwe, a proposal that we fully support,

to seek an advisory opinion from the International Court

of Justice on the legality of the use and threat of use of

nuclear weapons.

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Other critical issues, such as general and complete

disarmament, nuclear technology, nuclear-weapon-free

zones and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, also need to

be discussed and resolved. Once there is consensus on

these and other related concerns, the extension of the

Treaty, limited or unlimited, can be resolved to the

satisfaction of both nuclear and non-nuclear States parties.

The peace process in the Middle East continues to

gain momentum and wider acceptance in the region and

beyond it. For us, the centre-piece of this peace process is

and must remain full realization of the right of

self-determination of the Palestinian people, led by the

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which must lead

to complete nationhood.

In conclusion, as we approach the fiftieth anniversary

of the United Nations and are about to usher in a new

millennium, it is time for the world to take stock. The

world leadership of today comes largely from a generation

that saw violent conflicts, the untold devastation of societies

and families and shattered hopes and dreams. We can, on

the whole, visualize peace, though it is not yet assured in

all regions. However, the vision of peace prevails over the

vision of conflicts, and we must be determined to defend it.

It is the vision of peace that we must bequeath to the next

generation. That should be the gift of our time to the next

century.