Eswatini, 1997

I bring with me from the Kingdom

of Swaziland the warm greetings and best wishes of Her

Majesty the Indlovukazi, the Government and the whole

Swazi nation, to our friends and fellow Member States here

at the United Nations.

On behalf of the Kingdom of Swaziland, may I

congratulate you most sincerely, Sir, on your election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-second

session. We are confident that the wisdom, experience and

diplomatic skills that you bring to the office will ensure

success in the many issues facing this session.

Swaziland would also like to commend the work of

your predecessor, Ambassador Razali Ismail, who

presided with such skill over the deliberations of the fifty-

first session.

The Kingdom of Swaziland would like to place on

record its deep appreciation for the work of Mr. Boutros

Boutros-Ghali during his tenure as our Secretary-General.

Much was achieved during the five years of Mr. Boutros-

Ghali’s leadership, and the whole world owes him a huge

debt of gratitude.

We would like further to welcome our new

Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, who has shown in his

first year that he has the vision and qualities effectively

to lead our Organization into the twenty-first century. All

of us in Africa are proud of what he has achieved in such

a short time.

One of the main challenges facing our Secretary-

General is the reform of the United Nations into a cost-

effective, accountable, credible, well-managed and fully

representative Organization.

Swaziland gave its full support to the initial Track 1

proposals put forward by the Secretary-General. In

particular, we supported the various initiatives designed

to reduce administrative costs in favour of increased

efficiency in the development programmes in the field.

We trust that the welfare of those affected by the

necessary cuts has been carefully considered.

We have also welcomed the Track 2 reforms,

announced in July, and again, we support the Secretary-

General’s proposals on economic and social reform,

development cooperation, humanitarian relief and human

rights.

We believe that the Secretary-General’s address at the

first meeting of the general debate struck exactly the right

note of wise optimism. The responsibility now lies with the

General Assembly to support the Secretary-General’s bold

approach, and the Kingdom of Swaziland urges its fellow

Member States to back the proposals and allow the reforms

to forge ahead.

One area of reform that will have a major impact on

the openness and accountability of the United Nations

decision-making process is the question of the membership

and expansion of the Security Council, in particular the

need for greater representation of the developing world

among the permanent members.

The Kingdom of Swaziland fully supports the updated

African Common Position, which calls for, among other

things, membership in the Security Council to be based on

an equal geographical formula, on a regional or continental

basis. This would make the Council more democratic and

ensure that all Members would feel fairly and equally

represented in our Organization’s most influential body.

Africa believes that the continent should have at least

two permanent seats, with full voting and veto rights, to

represent the views and concerns of the other 51 countries.

These two permanent seats would be appointed through the

mechanism designed by the Organization of African Unity

(OAU), following the established traditional practice in

force.

At the heart of the debate on overall United Nations

reform is the question of finances. Most of the reforms

initiated by the Secretary-General are aimed at making the

Organization more cost-efficient and accountable and at

allowing more of our finances to be available for the

programmes in the field. This is a timely and necessary

initiative and is deserving of the strongest support of all

Member States.

These reforms also justify the recommitment of all

Member States to keep up to date with their dues. The

Kingdom of Swaziland has consistently tried to maintain a

good record in fulfilling its financial obligations to the

United Nations. We pledge to do our best to continue to

keep up to date, and we would urge all our fellow Member

States to show similar confidence in, and support for, our

Organization.

The Kingdom of Swaziland would also like to add

its voice to the appreciation expressed to Mr. Ted Turner

for his extraordinary display of confidence in our

Organization. His act of generosity, from the private

sector, reflects a new spirit of optimism in the United

Nations, and we would call on others with the resources

to do so to follow Mr. Turner’s example.

Hopes for future global stability have been raised by

the various initiatives for reducing the numbers and

spread of nuclear weapons and warheads.

The Kingdom of Swaziland in particular commends

the commitment of the United States of America and of

Russia to the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START)

programmes, whose implementation will contribute

significantly to a more peaceful world for future

generations.

We are also encouraged by the global support for the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and for the

Chemical Weapons Convention, both of which have been

signed by the Kingdom of Eswatini.

All these initiatives are important indications of the

real commitment of almost all countries to promote

international peace and security. We fully support the

Secretary-General’s proposal to create a new Department

on Disarmament and Arms Regulation as a necessary

addition to the Organization.

The Kingdom of Swaziland continues to support all

moves to bring about a total ban on the production, use

and sale of all types of landmines. We participated at the

recent Oslo negotiations on anti-personnel landmines and

welcomed the signing of the treaty.

We regret, however, that not all countries could be

parties to the treaty, while understanding the reasons

behind their decisions. We sincerely hope that a way can

be found soon to achieve universal agreement on this

crucial humanitarian issue.

As a consequence of situations of instability on our

borders, we have experienced first hand the terror of

landmines, and we have great sympathy for all who have

undergone the suffering associated with them. We also

watched with great admiration the efforts of the late

Diana, Princess of Wales, to bring to the world an

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awareness of the horrors of these indiscriminate tools of

war. We therefore call on all Member States to support the

initiatives aimed at ending for ever the threat of all types of

landmines.

The Kingdom of Swaziland views with great concern

the situation in the Middle East and in particular the

strained relations between the Israeli and Palestinian people.

The climate of reconciliation and hope inspired by the Oslo

peace accord has given way to suspicion and dread. It is

clear that the international community must continue to

support the peace initiative as the only way forward and

make every effort to bring the two sides back to the

negotiating table on a basis of mutual trust and confidence.

The Kingdom of Swaziland supports the efforts of all

who are trying to achieve a breakthrough in this area. We

call on the Israeli Government and the Palestinian

Authority, for the sake of their own people, to find a way

out of this apparent deadlock and return to the spirit of

compromise which prevailed during the Oslo negotiations,

and which held out the promise of lasting peace.

The Kingdom of Swaziland has been encouraged by

the recent developments in Northern Ireland, with all-party

talks on the future of that troubled province at last under

way. We commend the determination of the British and

Irish Governments to involve all stakeholders in the

negotiations, and we call on all involved to make every

effort to ensure that these negotiations lead to lasting peace

and stability.

The continent of Africa continues to experience

situations of instability and conflict which have unfortunate

effects on all of us who call it our home. In the past 12

months we have seen crises in Sierra Leone, the Congo and

the Comoros islands, and the continuation of problems in

many areas and countries such as the Great Lakes region,

the horn of Africa and Angola.The Kingdom of Swaziland

prays for the many millions caught up in the violence of

these and other situations of instability on our beloved

continent, and continues to support efforts to find peaceful

solutions.

At the same time, we welcome a number of

encouraging events on the continent, in countries such as

Liberia, where United Nations efforts towards peace over

the years contributed significantly to the elections earlier

this year.We applaud the peaceful nature of that process,

and we hope and pray that lasting, sustainable peace has at

last come to the Liberian people after so many years of

conflict.

And we commend the appointment by the Secretary-

General of Personal Envoy Mr. James Baker to oversee

the situation in Western Sahara. We are most encouraged

by developments in this long-running dispute, and we

look forward to a lasting resolution in the near future.

In the light of continuing instability on much of our

continent, one practical measure undertaken by the whole

African community has been the recent initiatives by the

Organization of African Unity (OAU) and subregional

organizations, such as the Economic Community of West

African States (ECOWAS) and our own Southern African

Development Community (SADC), to become better

prepared to cope with our continent’s crises using the

resources available to maintain peace in our region. One

element of this has been the training and preparation of

African peacekeeping forces for deployment throughout

the continent. The Kingdom of Swaziland has pledged its

commitment to provide troops for such forces, once

adequate training and preparation have been completed.

We should like to record our appreciation to the

United States of America for its African Crisis Response

Initiative, which is focusing a number of African

countries, including the Kingdom of Swaziland, on the

requirement for such things as standardized procedures,

training and equipment. It is clearly essential for this type

of peace force initiative to have the support of the

international community and for the OAU to maintain

close cooperation with the United Nations in our joint

attempts to provide adequate policing of crisis situations

in Africa.

For almost 30 years the Kingdom of Swaziland has

enjoyed excellent relations with a nation which, despite an

outstanding record in international development

assistance, and while fulfilling all the requirements for

membership of our Organization, is nonetheless excluded

from participating in the activities of the United Nations.

I am referring to the issue of the Government of the

Republic of China on Taiwan.

In October 1971 the United Nations adopted a

resolution which withdrew membership from the Republic

of China. That resolution has the effect today of denying

the rights of almost 22 million people to be represented

here in the United Nations, and to contribute to all the

global initiatives undertaken by our Organization.

The Kingdom of Swaziland has been in a position to

recognize and experience at first hand the peace-loving

nature of the Republic of China on Taiwan and its

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willingness to help foster peace and prosperity throughout

the world. The Government and people of the Republic of

China have made enormous advances in economic, social

and political terms, and have shown themselves ready and

able to share their experience and advice with all the

nations of the world.

Many countries and political groupings over the years

have also recognized the need to involve the Republic of

China on Taiwan in global development activities, through

the offices of the United Nations and its agencies. There is

also a growing voice of international opinion, including in

the European Parliament, the American Congress and

among many countries on all five continents, that

membership of the United Nations is necessary for the huge

resources and wealth of expertise of the Republic of China

to be put to the best possible use for the benefit of all

mankind.

One of the founding and guiding principles of our

Organization has been that of universality, of granting all

peoples of the world the right to belong to the United

Nations and to be heard in our chambers. It is a reality that

almost 22 million people believe that that right is denied to

them, by virtue of their country's exclusion from the

activities of the one truly global development Organization.

The Kingdom of Swaziland therefore proposes to its fellow

Member States that the time has now come to review the

resolution of 26 years ago. We believe that there is an

urgent need to re-examine this issue, taking into account the

profound changes in the situation that have occurred since

1971.

The Kingdom of Swaziland has viewed with concern

the recent report of the United Nations Conference on

Trade and Development, which highlighted once more the

economic plight of the developing world. Globalization and

liberalization are economic principles with which we all

agree, but not at the expense of a greater concentration of

wealth in the developed countries and an increase in

poverty amongst the underdeveloped.

It is all very well to quote the long-term benefits of

trade liberalization, but we must understand the severe

short-term penalties for those countries which are least

prepared to meet them. The Kingdom of Swaziland

understands very well what is required of us in a world of

free trade, in terms of becoming a producer of finished

goods and services in a manner which will allow us to

compete effectively and on an equal basis with the rest of

the world. But for us to achieve the growth and standards

of technology and production required, we and the rest of

the developing world need the understanding and support

of the developed countries in what will be very difficult

economic times ahead.

To meet this economic challenge, the Kingdom of

Swaziland is continuing its efforts to develop in a

sustainable manner, and to create an environment in

which our people can prosper. We have been following

up recent national initiatives designed to address our

short- and long-term social and political challenges and to

enhance the right conditions to allow our private sector to

continue to be the engine for growth. We have just

completed our latest national development strategy, which

will set out Government priorities for the next 25 years.

Our own internal restructuring programme is continuing,

and Government has begun a series of short-term

measures to improve the economy.

The Kingdom of Swaziland is a developing nation

which is largely dependent on agriculture for its survival.

In common with other Member States in our position, we

continually find ourselves at the mercy of Mother Nature,

and in particular we are dependent on adequate rainfall.

Our economy is only just recovering from the devastating

drought of 1991 and 1992, and now we have learned with

great dismay that the dreaded El Niño is once more

present in the Pacific Ocean. If true, this will have the

gravest consequences for all of us in southern Africa. The

Kingdom of Swaziland has learned the lessons of the last

drought, and we have begun a programme of dam

construction throughout the rural areas. But the threat of

a renewed period of reduced rainfall has come much too

soon, and we hope for the support once more of our

Organization and our fellow Member States.

In addition to addressing its economic concerns, the

Kingdom of Eswatini has also begun a review of the

nation's Constitution. In response to the call by the Swazi

people for a fundamental and far-reaching review of our

existing Constitution, a Commission has been established

and is in the process of conducting a constitutional

education programme, reaching even to the most remote

areas of the country.

This will be followed by a period of submissions

from everyone in the Kingdom, after which a constitution,

in accordance with the wishes of the whole nation, will be

drawn up for national approval.

It will truly be the people's constitution, since the

process allows the free participation of all Swazis.

National participation in important matters such as these

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is a crucial guiding principle of the Swazi people and, over

the years, has ensured the peace and stability we have

always enjoyed.

We have welcomed the encouragement and support for

our constitutional review process from the international

community, including the United Nations Development

Programme office based in the Kingdom. We are confident

that, with the involvement of all Swazis, we will produce

a document reflecting the wishes of the whole nation, one

that will serve us well for generations to come.

There is much vital work to be done in this fifty-

second session of the General Assembly. The Kingdom of

Eswatini believes that our Organization is at a major

crossroads in terms of its own development. We have the

opportunity now to carry out the correct reforms and ensure

that our Organization is equipped to face the many global

challenges that lie ahead in a more efficient, accountable

and open manner. We must choose our steps carefully and

wisely. Those for whom we are responsible — our

people — look to the United Nations to provide the global

development leadership that we so desperately need. We

cannot afford to fail them.

On behalf of Her Majesty the Indlovukazi, the

Government and the whole Swazi nation, it is my proud

duty to reaffirm the commitment of the Kingdom of

Swaziland to the Charter and principles of the United

Nations. May God watch over the Assembly's deliberations

here in the coming months and guide it in its decisions.