Togo, 1998

Allow me first of all, on behalf of the people of Togo and

President Eyadema and his Government, to join in the

congratulations extended to you, Sir, since the beginning of

our work on your election to the presidency of the General

Assembly at its fifty-third session.

We would also like to congratulate his your illustrious

predecessor, Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, on the effective

manner in which he conducted the work of the fifty-second

session.

I would furthermore like to pay tribute to the

Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, and his colleagues for

their continuous efforts to champion the noble ideals of

peace, justice, progress and solidarity embodied by the

United Nations.

By way of analysing the situation in Africa, I would

like to present Togo?s perspective of the world?s problems

in the context of improved international cooperation.

Africa is democratizing, but it needs peace and

security if it is to succeed. Africa is the continent most

affected by the great scourges of the planet, but its

development is also part of a dynamic of progress. The

scourges hampering its development are well known:

endemic disease, drought, poverty, political instability,

ethnic conflicts, civil wars and regional conflicts. These

scourges have a tendency to eclipse the successes.

Since the signing of the Abuja Treaty in 1991, Africa

has set itself a timetable for integration in the framework of

the African Economic Community, on the basis of

strengthening regional groupings of western, northern,

central, eastern and southern Africa. These groups are

themselves actively engaged in seeking joint solutions to

the challenges confronting its member States.

The rate of economic growth of certain African States

continues to make progress thanks to good management

policies.

A vast democratic movement has begun throughout

our continent to build States based on the rule of law.

This movement is being followed up by the adoption of

new constitutions and the establishment of independent

bodies to implement them. Numerous heads of State and

of Government have had their mandates challenged in

periodic elections. The majority and the opposition

representatives of the people have seats in the new

representative bodies — parliaments and national

assemblies. The success of the functioning of these new

constitutional bodies is ensured by independent legal

bodies. The press is now free, as are labour unions in

most of our States.

I am emphasizing these institutional aspects of

building a new Africa because the respect and support of

the international community for these institutions is a

factor in favour of peace within the particular States, and

therefore for peace in our regions.

Experience has shown us that a domestic conflict, by

giving rise to an exodus of people to neighbouring

countries, also has a rapid and serious effect on the latter.

I repeat, as the current situation in the Great Lakes region

demonstrates, such domestic conflicts can lead to regional

crises.

Togo is among the States that voluntarily established

institutions that safeguard the rule of law and that can

arbitrate disputes that may arise in the new context of

democratization. It is in this framework that the

Constitutional Court of Togo declared the results of the

presidential election of 21 June 1998 after having

arbitrated the disputes that resulted from the election.

Togo?s respect for institutions is the very foundation

of democracy and peace. On behalf of my Government,

I would like to invite all of our partners at the United

Nations to support without distinction the efforts of all the

countries of Africa that commit themselves to the difficult

but rewarding path of building a State of law. This is the

price of peace in Africa.

While we can be gratified at the end of certain

conflicts — particularly in Liberia and Sierra Leone —

and while solutions are in sight to relieve the tensions in

Guinea-Bissau, we cannot fail to express our concern over

the crisis in the Great Lakes region, the resumption of

hostilities in Angola, the continuation of the crisis in

Somalia and, finally, the armed confrontation between

Ethiopia and Eritrea.

7

We cannot stress enough the advantages of dialogue

and negotiation as the best paths to follow for settling

disputes between States on the basis of respect for their

territorial integrity.

In that connection, the international community must

put an end to the embargo imposed on Libya by

implementing the jurisdictional solution accepted by that

country and by ensuring a fair trial for the suspects in the

Lockerbie bombing. Togo firmly supports the efforts of the

Organization of African Unity (OAU) to settle this dispute

and end the suffering of the Libyan people.

My country takes this opportunity to repeat its

steadfast condemnation of terrorism in all of its forms and

to emphasize the need for urgent and concerted action to

combat this scourge effectively.

As we are aware, the proliferation of conflict

situations in Africa remains a real cause of concern for the

international community. I would like to note in this regard

the important report (A/52/871) presented by the Secretary-

General last February at the request of the Security Council

on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable

peace and sustainable development in Africa. That report

contains specific recommendations on means of preventing

such conflicts and putting an end to them, as well as on

measures to be taken to create conditions for lasting peace

and economic growth. We hope that the implementation of

his recommendations by the Security Council, by the

relevant bodies of the United Nations system and by the

Bretton Woods institutions will result in the effective

prevention of conflicts and put Africa on the road to

progress, stability and sustainable development.

Elsewhere in the world, we were relieved to see the

signing of an agreement between the Government of Iraq

and the United Nations, which made it possible at the last

moment to avoid a new confrontation in the Gulf.

In the same region, my Government deplores the

present deadlock in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

We remain convinced that only the resumption of direct

negotiations between the principals will make it possible to

usher in an era of peace, security and prosperity in that

region. We were relieved to see the contacts that have taken

place between Mr. Yasser Arafat and Mr. Benjamin

Netanyahu through the mediation of the American

Government. Togo strongly supports this initiative.

With regard to the other crises that assail the world

and jeopardize the lives of so many millions of people —

particularly in Afghanistan and Kosovo — my country

hopes that through firm political will backed by candid

and sincere negotiations, the parties to the conflicts will

find appropriate solutions that are acceptable to all.

The world?s concerns at the dawn of the third

millennium are not linked solely to the effects of the

phenomenon of globalization. The preservation of peace,

security and stability for States and peoples continues to

be an important priority. In that context, Togo is gratified

to note that the United Nations is continuing to discharge

its mission of peacemaking and peacekeeping. In this

regard, I welcome the upcoming commemoration on 6

October of 50 years of United Nations peacekeeping

operations, and I would like to pay tribute to the memory

of all the men and women who have given their lives in

the service of the Organization.

My country, which firmly supports the ongoing quest

for peace and security for all, would like to emphasize the

need to strengthen cooperation in this area, in a spirit of

complementarity, between the United Nations and

subregional and regional organizations, in accordance with

Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations. The

appropriate regional machinery necessary to give concrete

form to this shared desire for collective maintenance of

peace and security should be established.

It is in that spirit that Togo — together with other

countries of the West African subregion and in the

framework of the Economic Community of West African

States (ECOWAS) — is working to establish a viable and

permanent mechanism for the prevention, management

and settlement of conflicts and the maintenance of peace.

It is also within this framework that we welcome the

fourth extraordinary summit of ECOWAS, held in Lomé

from 16 to 17 December 1997, and the holding of the

joint military manoeuvres named “Cohesion Kompienga

?98”, held from 16 to 21 April 1998, in which the armed

forces of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d?Ivoire, Ghana, the

Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Togo participated.

Among the goals of the United Nations are vigilance

over the maintenance of peace and security, the

establishment of conditions for harmonious economic

development to ensure the well-being of our populations

and working for a just world in which the rights of

individuals and peoples are not only recognized and

consecrated, but above all respected.

My delegation would like to take this opportunity to

hail the holding of the United Nation Diplomatic

8

Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an

International Criminal Court, which led to the adoption of

the Statute of the court which was held in Rome from

15 June to 17 July.

Togo believes that peace is impossible without justice.

The struggle for peace and the struggle for greater justice

must be viewed as two complementary aspects of one and

the same struggle for the realization of the deepest

aspirations of all the peoples of the world. The positive

outcome of the negotiations at the Conference resulted in

the adoption of the Statute of the court, illustrating anew

the vigour and ability of our Organization in dealing with

the present and preparing States to face the issues of

tomorrow.

It is for that reason that my delegation favours all

efforts to reform the Organization that aim to make it more

effective, more concerned with the problems of mankind

and more democratic, so that the views of all are better

reflected and taken into account in all of its bodies.

Togo would therefore like to see the rapid conclusion

of discussions to allow for the permanent representation of

Africa in the Security Council, in accordance with the

resolutions of the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

The democracy we are advocating at the national level must

also be reflected in international organizations.

The United Nations has always played an important

role in the advancement of economic and social

development and, when necessary, in providing the men,

women and children of the entire world with the assistance

on which their survival often depends. We are nevertheless

obliged to recognize that despite the efforts made, the

improvement of standards of living, full employment and

the conditions for progress and economic and social

development have not been realized. This is particularly the

case in Africa, where continued inequality and poverty,

among other things, dangerously imperil the stability of

States.

It is true that African economies have performed

remarkably well in the last three years; but it is also true

that the consolidation of these gains still depends on the

international economic environment. Global economic

structural constraints — including the continuing burden of

debt, the reduction in the flow of official development

assistance, currency fluctuations, the inequality of

investment flows, weak commodity prices and market

protectionism practised by developed countries — still

remain the major obstacles to the economic development

of African countries.

With regard to the debt burden in particular, my

country highly values the declaration of the eighth

consultative meeting of the Organization of African Unity,

the African Development Bank and the Economic

Commission for Africa, which was held in Abidjan in

January 1998. We believe that the efforts to alleviate the

debt burden must be continued in conjunction with

Africa?s partners in order to find appropriate solutions to

this thorny problem.

In this context, Togo would like to reaffirm the

imperative need to hold an international conference on

Africa?s foreign debt, and it requests the support of the

international community to translate that proposal into

reality.

Regrettably, at this time of economic globalization,

the marginalization of Africa in terms of international

trade is accelerating, even though today the development

of trade appears to be the most effective means of

managing the resources necessary for self-sufficiency.

Indeed, the development and economic growth of African

States requires as a basic condition sufficient currency

inflows from the export of their commodities. Thus, in the

view of my delegation, an open world system operating

under just and equitable regulations should be established

in order to ensure the active participation of African

States in international trade. To that end, more liberal

measures will be required in order to promote the

transformation and diversification of their products as

well as to attract and channel investments towards them.

The industrialized countries are attempting to join

forces. This shows clearly that today no country,

regardless of how powerful it is, can alone provide for its

own economic growth and cope with increasingly

aggressive international competition. Given this state of

affairs, the African countries have in recent years

reaffirmed their will to pool their potential by establishing

and strengthening subregional units. It is clear that the

development policy of our countries must be considered

within this framework, for this is the only way that Africa

can become a fully fledged and reliable partner in the

world of the twenty-first century.

In this respect, the entry into force of the Treaty

establishing the African Economic Community serves as

a good illustration of the will of African States to unite

their efforts to ensure their own progress.

9

Togo, which is firmly committed to the policy of

economic integration of the continent, wishes to take this

opportunity to once again urge the international community

to support the efforts of the African countries to achieve the

goals of sustainable development which alone can promote

prosperity and the well-being of their peoples.

I should like here to underscore an emerging trend in

Africa: inter-African parliamentary control of the activities

of our regional and subregional organizations. It is in this

framework that an inter-parliamentary committee of the

West African Economic and Monetary Union was created

recently in Bamako; its work is already under way. Also in

this framework, a parliamentary assembly was established

in the countries of the Southern African Development

Community (SADC), in southern Africa. This shows that

while, generally speaking, people tend to despair of the

future of Africa, we young Africans have faith that Africa

is on the right path as long as we have the unswerving

support of the international community.

Here I should like once again to welcome the

commitment of the Japanese Government to Africa through

the Tokyo Conference on the Development of Africa

(TICAD), aimed at seeking solutions to the continent?s

development problems. My delegation would like here once

again to thank the Japanese Government for all of its

efforts to strengthen cooperation between Africa and Asia,

and congratulates it on the convening of TICAD II next

October in Tokyo.

Moreover, Togo believes that the combination of

TICAD with other initiatives — in particular that of the

United States on equitable partnership, known as 20/20

Vision; that of the European Union, within the framework

of the Lomé Convention; and that of the francophone

world, within the framework of the Hanoi Plan of

Action — will help safeguard and consolidate the spirit of

solidarity, which Africa wishes to see ever more active and

ever more purposeful.

My country is convinced of the need for solidarity

among the Members of our Organization and is deeply

committed to the noble ideals of peace, freedom and justice

and of economic, social and cultural progress, which the

United Nations has contributed to advancing. During this

year of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration

of Human Rights, Togo fervently hopes to witness the

realization, for the benefit of all humankind, of the

profound aspirations of peoples to greater freedom and to

a world of peace in which the struggle against poverty,

famine and illness grows is daily strengthened.