Tanzania, 1997

Please

permit me, Sir, at the outset, to offer my sincere

congratulations to you on your election to the Presidency of

the fifty-second session of the General Assembly. In the

same vein, our congratulations are directed to the members

of the Bureau on their election. I wish to assure you of the

full cooperation of my delegation in the discharge of this

heavy responsibility entrusted to you.

I would also like to express my thanks to Ambassador

Razali Ismail of Malaysia for the able manner in which he

discharged his responsibilities during his Presidency of the

last session. At this juncture, I would like to pay a special

tribute to Mr. Kofi Annan for his deserved election as

Secretary-General of the United Nations and for the able

manner in which he is carrying out his responsibilities.

Looking at the agenda of this meeting, it is an historic

meeting of the General Assembly and you, Sir, will be

remembered for many years to come. Personally, I feel

proud and privileged to be associated with this meeting.

Last year, here in New York, members of the Group

of 77 and China elected my country, Tanzania, to the

chairmanship of the Group. The last nine months or so in

that post have been a very exciting and challenging

experience for me and my colleagues at our Mission to the

United Nations and for the entire Government of the United

Republic of Tanzania. We have been involved in several

meetings, debates and negotiations on behalf of the Group.

I am glad to say that, despite some setbacks, notable

success and progress have been made in all our

endeavours. All this was made possible through the

cooperation, support and, above all, teamwork of all

members of the Group. We thank all members for their

support.

Two years ago, world leaders met here to celebrate

50 years of the existence of the United Nations. Besides

taking stock of the progress made and the lessons learned,

the Heads of State or Government endeavoured to chart

the institutional framework and operational parameters

that could enhance the Organization's relevance and

effectiveness in a changed international environment. In

this context, apart from the Organization's traditional

roles of maintaining international peace and security and

providing humanitarian assistance, it was also found

essential to place development cooperation issues at the

centre of United Nations activities. The United Nations

itself needed to undertake appropriate reform measures so

that it would be better able to deal with the challenges of

the new global economy.

To facilitate the reform process in the socio-

economic field, developing countries participated actively

and effectively in work on the Agenda for Development

to ensure the successful conclusion of the negotiations of

this important process. These negotiations were completed

in June 1997, and I should like to commend the Ad Hoc

Open-ended Working Group of the General Assembly on

this issue for its good work.

Building on the outcome of recent United Nations

conferences and other relevant agreements, the Agenda

for Development underscores that sustained economic

growth is essential to the economic and social

development of all countries, in particular developing

countries. While acknowledging the importance of

national policies and measures in the development

process, the Agenda for Development calls for action

towards a dynamic and enabling international economic

environment, including such aspects as an open, rule-

based, equitable, secure, non-discriminatory, transparent

and predictable multilateral trading system and the

promotion of investment and the transfer of technology

and knowledge. Additionally, the Agenda calls for

enhanced international cooperation in the mobilization and

provision of financial resources for development. It also

underscores the need for an effective, equitable,

development-oriented and durable solution to the external

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debt and debt-servicing problems of the developing

countries.

Many developing countries are not able to benefit

from the twin processes of the liberalization and the

globalization of the world economy. These processes

benefit some countries while causing instability and

marginalization in others, particularly in developing

countries. The least-developed countries face the greatest

risk of further marginalization. This is why they continue

to demand that such uneven trends be addressed, and that

the World Trade Organization and other related

international organizations adopt specific and concrete

measures to mitigate the adverse effects arising from the

implementation of the Uruguay Round agreements. These

measures must include long-term financial and technical

support, the transfer of technology, and the improvement of

the trade performance of the developing countries. It is also

necessary to ensure full and effective participation of the

developing countries in the international economic decision-

making processes.

Concerning financial flows, it is imperative to reverse

the overall decline in official development assistance and to

achieve the agreed target of 0.7 per cent by the turn of the

century. We appeal to developed countries to reaffirm their

commitments to meet this target. Other sources of

concessional external financial assistance should also be

strengthened to enable them without conditionalities to

increase resources for disbursement in support of the

developing countries.

In addition to official development assistance and

multilateral assistance, the growth in foreign direct

investment in developing countries is of particular

importance. However, foreign direct investment portfolio

flows are going to very few developing countries, those

which are already growing fast; very little, or none, is

going to the least-developed countries. For example, Africa

has received only a small proportion of the total net private

flows, despite extensive reforms that continue to be

undertaken. The challenge to the international community

in this respect is to ensure that adequate capital and

investment flows also reach the least-developed countries so

as to accelerate their pace of development. This could be

done through, inter alia, the improvement of economic and

social infrastructure in the least-developed countries.

External indebtedness is one of the major obstacles to

the development efforts of many developing countries. It is

acknowledged that even with sound economic policies and

with full appreciation of the debt-rescheduling arrangements

in place, developing countries continue to face an

unbearable debt-servicing burden. There is hence an

urgent need for adopting durable solutions to external

debt and debt-servicing problems, particularly those of the

heavily indebted poor countries. More also needs to be

done in terms of debt stock cancellation and forgiveness.

We appreciate recent initiatives to reduce debts, both

those within the Naples terms of the Paris Club, and those

within the multilateral framework, such as the heavily

indebted poor countries initiative of the World Bank and

the International Monetary Fund. However, the criteria for

eligibility should be more flexible to enable more

countries to benefit from these arrangements. As it is

now, it is almost a nightmare for a country to qualify in

terms of conditionalities involved and the time it takes

before reaping the first benefits after qualifying. It is like

being so near yet so far.

The debate on development is closely interlinked

with that on the environment. In June this year, a special

session of the Assembly was held to review and appraise

the implementation of Agenda 21 five years on. It is

regrettable that the special session came out with no

concrete agreement or commitments on the cross-cutting

issues of financial resources and technology transfer. For

while it was possible to agree on follow-up action on

some of the sectoral issues such as forests, energy,

climate change, desertification, fresh water and others,

lack of concrete agreement on issues related to financial

resources and technology transfer militates against

effective realization of the little that was agreed upon.

In his statement at the special session on behalf of

the Group of 77 and China, my President, His Excellency

Mr. Benjamin William Mkapa, emphasized that all

countries should rededicate themselves to the Rio

Declaration in order to achieve the goals of sustained

economic growth and sustainable development. He further

stressed the need for creating a more conducive

international economic environment, to enable developing

countries to gain access to new and additional resources

and technology on concessional and grant terms. I wish

to reiterate that call today.

Other major international conferences and world

summits held since 1990 will also come up for review in

the near future. It is our hope that a new spirit of

international partnership in resolving the various socio-

economic problems facing, particularly, developing

countries will emerge and that international support for

the implementation of the various programmes of these

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conferences will continue to be provided by the

international community.

In recent years, South-South cooperation has evolved

into an important modality for addressing the development

needs of developing countries. We are convinced that

South-South cooperation provides a sound basis for

promoting economic growth and increasing technical

capacities for acceleration of development in the developing

countries. The Group of 77 and China pledge to intensify

existing cooperation and solidarity among its members with

a view to sharing development experiences and solving

some of the development problems facing them.

I agree with the Secretary-General that reform of the

United Nations is not an event but a process. General

Assembly resolution 50/227 and the Secretary-General's

proposals provide a basis for the discussion of United

Nations reforms. However, we strongly feel that emphasis

should be placed on the overall policy thrust and mission of

the Organization geared towards the strengthening of its

economic role.

Furthermore, institutions that deal with economic

issues, such as the United Nations Conference on Trade and

Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Industrial

Development Organization (UNIDO) and the relevant

Economic and Social Council bodies and regional

commissions, should remain. They should also be

strengthened to ensure that the development concerns of

developing countries are taken fully into account.

As for the reform of the Security Council, my country

stands for more democratization and equity in this crucial

organ of the United Nations. We stand for the expansion of

its membership in both the permanent and non-permanent

categories, with the additional members in the permanent

category getting veto power. The expansion in both

categories should include not only Japan and Germany, but

also equitable representation of the developing countries of

Africa, Asia and Latin America.

All reforms must be conducive to realizing the broad

purposes and principles of the Charter and to improving the

efficiency of the United Nations in all areas. They must

also contribute to a more positive and effective United

Nations role in promoting world peace and development,

and meet the aspirations of developing countries. I am

confident that we will be able to achieve a broad consensus

as long as all of us engage in deliberations in good faith

and with a readiness to consider all legitimate concerns.

Tanzania appreciates the changes that have taken

place in the area of disarmament. The threat of nuclear

war may not at present manifest itself in the ideological

confrontation of the past, but it has not gone away or

receded. It is still with us, and we should guard against

any complacency that we are any safer today. Nations

still possess nuclear warheads, and new generations of

these weapons are being manufactured. The total

elimination of these weapons must continue to be the

central purpose of our disarmament agenda.

While nuclear weapons still pose a potentially grave

threat to international peace and security, conventional

ones have had a devastating effect, particularly in areas of

conflict. Among these are anti-personnel landmines,

which maim and kill the innocent, even long after war

has ended. The effects of these weapons are evident all

over the world, with their most violent manifestation in

countries such as Angola, Cambodia, Mozambique and

Bosnia. Tanzania has supported, and will continue to

support, a worldwide ban of these weapons through the

framework of the Ottawa process and looks forward to

becoming an effective party to the instrument just

concluded in Oslo, Norway. At the same time, we hope

that the elimination of anti-personnel landmines will not

be seen as an end in itself, but as part of the overall

objective of eliminating other weapons, especially

weapons of mass destruction.

As the United Nations grapples with the challenges

of peace and development, it is still faced with many

political problems which need urgent resolution if

humanity is to prosper. From Latin America and the

Caribbean to Europe, from Asia to the Middle East and

Africa, the United Nations is faced with the arduous task

of promoting peace, democracy and good governance as

the enduring pillars of development.

We congratulate the people of Liberia for having

conducted a successful democratic election, which, we

hope, has ushered in a new era of peace in that country.

Now, as they seek to regain their footing and begin the

arduous task of national reconciliation, healing and

economic reconstruction, they will need the support of the

international community.

At a time when Liberia is emerging from destruction

and suffering, we are deeply concerned that Sierra Leone

is sinking deeper into chaos at the expense of peace,

development and democracy for that country. The

Government of Tanzania has associated itself fully with

the efforts made within the framework of the

23

Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the Economic

Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to restore

democracy and constitutional rule in Sierra Leone. Even at

this late hour, we continue to hope that the Sierra Leonean

military will realize the folly of their misadventure and

agree to return their country to constitutional rule. In the

meantime, the continuing efforts of the West African

region, and Africa in general, merit expanded support so as

to put an end to the destructive cycle of military coups in

Sierra Leone.

In Angola, we continue to be concerned by the

manoeuvres of UNITA to stall the process of

implementation of the Lusaka accords. Our concern is given

added urgency by the steady degeneration of the situation

in the country and the likelihood of a return to open

hostilities and war, with all the destruction and suffering

that portends for the people of that country. We urge

UNITA to abandon its obstructionist policies and abide by

the Lusaka peace accords. We hope the United Nations will

remain engaged in Angola.

The situation in the Great Lakes region remains

precarious. The consequences of decades of misrule in

some countries of the region have been horrendous in terms

of suffering, war, death and lost opportunities to harness its

great development potential. We regret that the situation in

Burundi shows no sign of improvement. The military

authorities have persisted in frustrating the efforts of the

region within the framework of the Arusha initiative, under

the chairmanship of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, to facilitate

the process of political dialogue.

Tanzania and the other countries of the region are

persisting in their efforts because we believe there is no

alternative to dialogue but war and more suffering for

innocent civilians. The region has no other interest in

Burundi but to help. At the regional level, meetings were

held in Arusha on 4 September, and the leaders reiterated

their commitment to the search for peace in Burundi and

called upon the military authorities there to abandon the

course of confrontation and seek dialogue and political

accommodation with all elements in Burundi.

The region has been categorical in restating that the

Burundi authorities should be under no illusion that they

can bury their heads in the sand or wish the problem away.

They simply have to face reality and dutifully rise to the

occasion. Certainly the region and the international

community cannot leave them alone and allow them to lead

the country into self-destruction and war, with all the

attendant problems that creates for Burundi and its

neighbours. I wish to appeal to the international

community to continue assisting the region so that our

goal of restarting the dialogue for peace in the country is

achieved.

In Rwanda, fortunately, the situation is steadily

stabilizing, particularly after the return of most of its

citizens, who had been coerced into a drifting life in exile

as refugees. Yet the difficulties which face that country

are enormous. The process of recovery from the immense

moral, physical and spiritual effects of the 1994 genocide

will be painful and slow. As Rwanda struggles to come

to terms with the genocide, reconcile with itself and

continue on the path of national healing and renewal, it

needs our solidarity and support.

With President Laurent Kabila's assumption of the

leadership of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the

process of returning to democratic rule has begun, albeit

slowly. We realize that it will not be an easy or swift

process, given the political rigidity and the policies of

political exclusion to which that country was subjected for

decades. We appreciate the enormity of the task of

putting the country back on its feet, restoring Government

institutions and setting out towards democratic recovery.

Given this background, what the Government and people

of the Democratic Republic of the Congo need most is

solidarity, understanding and material support from the

international community.

The political problems of the Great Lakes have

precipitated a grave humanitarian challenge as millions of

people have been forced into a life of exile as refugees.

This has placed an enormous burden on the countries of

the region, including my own, which has had to shoulder

it without commensurate resources. We appreciate the

great work done by United Nations agencies and many

humanitarian non-governmental organizations in terms of

providing the much-needed assistance to the refugees.

Indeed, without this support, the life of the refugees

would have been most unbearable. Yet even with this

much-appreciated assistance, the burden left to refugee-

receiving States has been enormous. The economic,

social, environmental and security consequences of

hosting the refugees will have long-lasting effects from

which these countries will continue to suffer even after

the repatriation of the refugees has been completed. This

raises the fundamental issue of assisting the asylum

countries, not only to cope with the immediate task of

meeting the needs of the refugees, but also with the long-

term effects of hosting them. This aspect needs

addressing.

24

Somalia may no longer be on our television screens or

worthy of the news headlines, but it is still a problem

which must not be forgotten. The country is still

fragmented, and fighting among the factions in conflict is

not yet over. There is a chance that through the Sodere

initiative there may be some positive developments. The

United Nations needs to continue associating itself closely

with the efforts being expended by the Intergovernmental

Authority for Drought and Development and the

Organization of African Unity aimed at bringing durable

peace to Somalia.

In Western Sahara, too, we are concerned by the

apparent freeze in the implementation of the settlement

plan. As we reiterate our solidarity with the Frente

POLISARIO, we express the hope that the initiatives of the

representative of the Secretary-General, in the person of the

former United States Secretary of State James Baker, will

bear fruit and remove the prevailing political difficulties in

the implementation of the settlement plan.

Tanzania continues to follow closely the developments

in the Middle East which now threaten peace in the area. In

this regard, Tanzania reiterates its solidarity with the

Palestinian people and calls upon the Palestinian and the

Israeli authorities to persist in their efforts to consolidate

dialogue and move forward in elaborating permanent

arrangements for peace. We still believe that, ultimately,

enduring peace in the region lies in the return of all the

occupied Arab land and in the full enjoyment by the

Palestinian people of its inalienable right to self-

determination and independence, including the

establishment of a homeland for themselves within

internationally recognized boundaries.

In conclusion, as we move into the new millennium,

the world is still a place largely besieged by poverty and

underdevelopment, conflict and war. The giant leaps of

science and technology which have enabled humankind to

explore outer space and to shrink the world into a global

village have so far not been adequately and evenly

channelled into meeting the compelling needs of the greater

part humanity. The world will transit into the next

millennium divided between those who are prosperous and

at peace and those living in abject poverty and at war.

Therefore, it must be the overriding objective of the United

Nations to ensure that this disparity is overcome. The

challenge that we must all face is to strengthen this

Organization by unconditionally supporting it fully,

politically and financially to enable it to serve humanity

better.