Seychelles, 1993

I too would like to extend to Ambassador

Insanally the congratulations of Seychelles on his election to

the presidency of the General Assembly. We wish him

every possible success in carrying out his duties.

Allow me also to pay a well-deserved tribute to the

Secretary-General for his tireless efforts in seeking solutions

to the many problems facing the international community.

Our session is opening on a note of hope, because it is

taking place only a few days after a historic event of

exceptional importance. I am referring, of course, to the

signing of the peace agreement between Israel and the

Palestine Liberation Organization. May that negotiation

provide a lesson in those areas where misunderstanding,

hatred and conflicts of interest are still bringing suffering to

so many.

The dramatic events and the human tragedy that are

taking place in hotbeds of tension throughout the world are

a credit to no one. However, we must take note of the fact

that while reaction has been passive and hesitant in some

cases, it has been quick and resolute in others.

The quest for peace is nevertheless at the centre of our

concerns. The considerable financial resources our

Organization devotes to peace-keeping missions or missions

to restore peace demonstrate this. This is undoubtedly proof

of our own determination to bring to a halt these conflicts,

which result in so many victims and destroy all the

achievements of development.

Indeed, any lasting development necessarily implies

efforts to thwart the threat of certain situations turning into

open conflict.

42 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

For us island States, the seas are a source of life. Our

future depends mainly on them. And for our development

to be truly lasting, we must have peace on the seas.

While it is indisputable that old rivalries have subsided

in the seas and oceans of the world, it nevertheless remains

true that the Indian Ocean has always been coveted by all.

And that is why we reiterate our request that the Indian

Ocean become truly a zone of peace and cooperation to the

benefit of coastal States. The concept of the Colombo

Conference is perhaps something from a bygone era, but its

objectives remain relevant today.

Members will find it easy to understand, therefore, why

we attach such great importance to the implementation of

resolution 47/59 of the forty-seventh session of the General

Assembly calling for the organization by the Ad Hoc

Committee of a meeting that would propose new alternative

approaches leading to the achievement of the goals contained

in the initial Declaration, taking into account the changing

international situation.

It is in this spirit that I should like to make an appeal

to the countries which have not yet done so to ratify the

Convention on the Law of the Sea so that we can get the

necessary 60 ratifications for its entry into force. How are

we to understand that such an important Convention has

been endorsed by only 56 countries since 1982? Of course,

we do appreciate the importance of what is at stake, but

international solidarity must be our guide.

The International Olympic Committee would like to

revive the ancient tradition of the Olympic truce and declare

1994 the International Year of Sports and of the Olympic

Spirit, and we should support that proposal. Let us not

underestimate the values of the Olympic spirit. They are

rich in potential applications for managing international

relations.

But no peace can be lasting while the causes of

conflicts remain. These causes are selfishness, intolerance,

xenophobia, discrimination and dictatorship, but also - and

especially - poverty, poor management and excessive

indebtedness. These are ills that generally lead to the

emergence of new conflicts. Should we not attack the root

cause rather than the effect?

A few years ago, financial backers made

democratization one of the prerequisites for assistance to

developing countries, and as a bonus to democracy, certain

countries benefited from the generosity of the international

community because they had pioneered that approach.

Today, most of our countries have embarked on the process

of democratization - with varied results, admittedly - but the

desire to fit into the new order was the underlying reason for

all. Nevertheless, this new process, and I would take the

case of the Republic of Seychelles, which has met this

challenge calmly and successfully, inevitably entailed

extrabudgetary expenditures in all areas, both economic and

social.

While it is true that the transition to democracy is

something which is very valuable in and of itself, the

establishment of new structures and the implementation of

new rules have nevertheless been a source of additional costs

which have placed a heavy burden on national budgets that

were already fairly shaky. And almost everywhere, the

implementation of this democratization process required the

support of the international community. Is this not an

objective reason to think about setting up a United Nations

special fund to provide financial and logistical support for

these reforms?

To be viable, this democratic undertaking must seek to

meet all the challenges of a country. If it is to ensure the

continuation of these new institutions, it must pave the way

for sustainable development commensurate with the

aspirations of peoples.

Thus, with the advent of the Third Republic, our

country is today in a new stage of its history. For more than

18 months, within the context of a constituent commission,

reforms have been undertaken that will produce a new

Constitution and lead to free and democratic elections. In

other words, for a year and a half national activity has been

slowed, and even brought to a halt in some cases, while the

fundamental economic problems remain.

The Seychelles has been the scene of another

momentous event, the Fourth Indian Ocean Games, which

took place last August in conditions that were judged

exceptional. Reverting to what I was saying, I would note

that the cost of the infrastructure for those Games made

serious inroads into the national budget.

One might wonder how a small island country was able

to engage in such a programme of reforms for 18 months in

such circumstances. We are proud of having succeeded, but

the economy must be restimulated immediately if we do not

wish to lose all the social and political benefits that were

achieved.

Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 43

I should like now to take up the problem of the small

island States, of whose fragility everyone here is aware. We

are countries whose reduced size is the source of

innumerable constraints on economic and social

development, such as chronic deficits in trade balances and

balances of payment, the high cost of social infrastructures

in relation to their utilization and, especially, the excessive

indebtedness caused by a lack of funds to finance investment

programmes. The convergence of those factors has only

exacerbated the fragility of our economies, which, generally

speaking, are based on one or two sectors such as tourism

and fishing.

That is the daily lot of the Seychelles and other small

island States, which, with courage, perseverance and

intelligence, are nevertheless attempting to find solutions that

will enable them to promote the economic and social well-

being of their peoples. Thus we believe that it is quite

fitting to draw the international community’s attention once

again to the need to establish specific programmes and

mechanisms that would make it possible for our island

countries to move towards sustainable development. We ask

that the same facilities that are made available to the least

developed, landlocked countries be made available to us.

In any event, per capita income, always put forward as

a criterion for level of development, cannot be relevant for

small island States because it is distorted by the small size

of their populations. Has any thought been given to the per

capita cost of infrastructures or the per capita debt? We

believe that such an analysis would result in the

reconsideration of many decisions.

Of course, it is up to us, first of all, to take every

measure to ensure the sustainability of our development by

preserving, in so far as possible, our environment, which lies

at the basis of all our export products. Despite all these

constraints, we have been able - thanks to the judiciousness

of our choices and our economic decisions -

to achieve tangible results. But the international

community’s support, which we had been promised in Rio,

did not materialize.

Today, all of the developing countries are in a

precarious situation. They are confronted with many

challenges: the poverty of millions of human beings, high

rates of infant mortality, famine, the destruction of the

environment and fratricidal wars. But these challenges are

not insurmountable. What is required is courage and

international solidarity.

It is more than ever the duty of the United Nations

once again to draw the attention of the developed countries

to the effects which the continuation of such a situation

might have on our economies and our cultures - in a word,

on our future, but also on theirs.

We would like concrete action, because we do not wish

to have to deplore again the inertia of speeches or

declarations of intent. While new conflicts arise, the old

ones persist almost everywhere and the scope of the disasters

is tremendous. Hence, we must react quickly, because many

peoples have suffered far too much from the horrors of war.

Above all, the major Powers, the guarantors of the

security and regulation of the world economic situation, must

give the United Nations the means to carry out its policies.

Finally, we sincerely hope that the current session will

generate the necessary impetus to resolve all our concerns,

so that peace, at last restored, can create a climate conducive

to development.