Uganda, 2002

On behalf of the

delegation of Uganda, I congratulate you, Sir, on your

election to preside over the deliberations of the fifty-

seventh regular session of the General Assembly. We

express appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Han

Seung-Soo, for a job well done. We also congratulate

the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for the

outstanding work he continues to perform on behalf of

the United Nations and the international community.

Uganda welcomes to the membership of the United

Nations two new members, the Democratic Republic of

5

East Timor, which is soon to become a Member, and the

Swiss Confederation, whose admission to the United

Nations brings closer to realization the goal of

universality of membership of this global Organization.

One year after the tragic events of 11 September

2001, the primary role of the United Nations to maintain

international peace and security must be strengthened, in

order to ensure that the tragedy that befell New York City

and Washington D.C., last year is not repeated anywhere

on this globe. The United Nations, together with all

Member States, must make every effort to eradicate the

scourge of terrorism from the world. The Government

and people of Uganda stand united with all peace-

loving countries of the world in condemning and

resisting acts of terrorism carried out by cowardly and

barbaric forces. The use of indiscriminate violence

cannot be justified under any circumstances and,

therefore, must be roundly condemned.

The people of Uganda have been victims of

senseless acts of terrorism perpetrated by terrorist

groups such as the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and

the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) for many years.

Uganda is committed to efforts to bring the

perpetrators of terrorism and their collaborators to

justice. Uganda is ready to cooperate with other

countries in the implementation of the provisions of

existing international anti-terrorist conventions, as well

as the conclusion of new international instruments to

counter terrorism comprehensively.

At the domestic level, Uganda recently enacted a

law called the Suppression of Terrorism Act. The

enactment of that law is clear testimony to the

commitment of the Government of Uganda to fight

terrorism both at home and abroad.

The scourge of conflicts on the African continent

has for decades been one of the major contributors to

socio-economic decline, causing untold suffering, as

civilian populations are forced into living as refugees

and internally displaced persons.

Bearing that in mind, we welcome the historic

decision of the inaugural Assembly of the African

Union to establish the Peace and Security Council of

the African Union to deal with the scourge of conflicts

in Africa and to ensure that peace, stability and

security prevail on the African continent. Uganda has

duly signed the Protocol relating to the establishment

of the Peace and Security Council. As a collective

security and early-warning body, the Peace and

Security Council will enhance Africa's capacity to

manage conflicts by facilitating timely and efficient

response to conflict and crisis situations on the

continent. I wish to call upon our development partners

and upon the international community at large to

support Africa in this new endeavour.

In conformity with our commitment to restore

peace and stability in the Great Lakes region, and

consistent with the spirit of the Lusaka Ceasefire

Agreement, the Presidents of Uganda and the Democratic

Republic of the Congo signed an Agreement in Luanda,

Angola, on 6 September 2002. That agreement provides

for total withdrawal of Ugandan troops from the territory

of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, normalization

of relations and cooperation in the economic and social

fields. Under the Agreement, Uganda undertakes to

withdraw all its troops from Beni, Gbadolite and Bunia

within a period of 100 days. As of now, we have

withdrawn all our troops from Beni, and by the weekend

we shall have no troops in Gbadolite. At the same time,

the two countries agreed to establish a joint security

mechanism for the western slopes of the Rwenzori

mountains in order to address Uganda's security concerns.

Also of importance is the undertaking by the parties to

refrain from all types of military and logistical support

— including the provision of bases and sanctuary to

armed groups, inter-ethnic militias, subversive

organizations and all rebel movements — against each

other. Uganda is indebted to the Government of The

Republic of Angola for its crucial engagement, which

led to that breakthrough.

As Chair of the regional initiative on Burundi,

Uganda has played a leading role in efforts to find a

just and lasting solution to the internal conflict in

Burundi. We welcome the conclusion of the Arusha

Peace Accord, and I should like to appeal to all the

parties to honour the ceasefire and to support fully

efforts to implement the Arusha Accord. I thank, in that

regard, the Governments of South Africa, Tanzania and

Gabon for their tireless efforts. In addition, we pay

tribute to former President Nelson Mandela of South

Africa for his role as Facilitator. Uganda and the other

countries in the region will continue to exert every

effort to bring about peace and stability in Burundi. We

call upon the United Nations and the rest of the

international community to support our efforts to

restore peace in Burundi.

Since the Nairobi Agreement, signed in

December 1999 between the Governments of the Sudan

6

and Uganda and facilitated by former President Jimmy

Carter of the United States and by President Daniel

arap Moi of Kenya, relations between Sudan and

Uganda have continued to witness steady and

satisfactory progress. To date, the Sudan and Uganda

have agreed to restore cooperation in the political,

security and diplomatic fields. We have also agreed to

establish a joint ministerial commission to oversee

further cooperation in all areas.

Uganda strongly supports and is actively

participating in the negotiations initiated by the

Intergovernmental Authority on Development aimed at

resolving the conflict between the Government of the

Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/

Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLM/SPLA), which

culminated in the breakthrough of the Machakos

Protocol on 20 July 2002. Indeed, it was in the spirit of

hopeful anticipation of peace that President Museveni

hosted a historic meeting in Kampala on 27 July 2002

between President Al-Bashir of the Sudan and the

Chairman of the SPLM/SPLA, Dr. John Garang de

Mabior. Therefore, it is extremely unfortunate and

regrettable that the second phase of the Machakos

negotiations between the two Sudanese parties has

stalled. The Government of Uganda calls upon the

international community, especially the countries of the

region, to demand a return to the negotiating table by

the Sudanese parties so that a comprehensive, just and

lasting settlement can be reached.

The situation in Somalia continues to be volatile

and the prospects for peace elusive. Following the Arta

agreement and the formation of the Transitional

National Government of Somalia, the position of Uganda

has been to encourage the reconciliation process and an

all-inclusive and broad-based administration for that

country. It is in that context that Uganda looks forward to

the convening of the forthcoming Somali peace and

reconciliation conference, which is due to start in

Nairobi, Kenya, on 15 October 2002.

Uganda is concerned at the lack of progress in

efforts to find a just and permanent solution to the

question of Western Sahara, which has remained

unresolved since the former colonial Power abandoned

the territory in 1975. We urge the United Nations to

hold, as soon as possible, a referendum to enable the

Saharawi people to exercise their inalienable right to

self-determination, in accordance with the relevant

General Assembly resolutions.

Uganda supports the right of the Palestinian

people to a homeland, and we appeal to the two parties

to resume negotiations with a view to finding a just and

lasting solution to the Middle East crisis. Uganda

supports the establishment of a Palestinian State to

exist side by side in peace with the State of Israel.

Uganda participated actively and at the highest

level at the World Summit on Sustainable

Development, held at Johannesburg, South Africa. The

Summit was clearly one of this year's major events in

the field of development. Uganda welcomes the

outcome of that conference, which reaffirmed the

principles and priorities of Agenda 21. In focusing on

poverty eradication, the Summit established the

essential integration of the three concepts of people,

planet and prosperity. We believe that the challenge

now before the international community is to

implement, fully and expeditiously, the concrete

agreements reached at the conference. This session of

the General Assembly must, therefore, translate the

aspirations of the developing countries expressed at the

conference into reality. We believe that all countries

have an obligation to implement the Johannesburg Plan

of Action and Declaration on sustainable development

and, by so doing, to contribute towards the achievement

of the Millennium Development Goals, adopted by the

General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session.

Uganda welcomes the international consensus

reached at Monterrey in March this year, including new

development assistance commitments for financing the

development of developing countries. We appeal to our

development partners and to international financial

institutions to provide additional resources and to

honour the agreed targets for official development

assistance. The priority accorded to the eradication of

poverty by the Millennium Summit and, in particular,

the goal of reducing poverty by half by 2015 will not

be realized unless all countries — especially developed

countries — honour the obligations and commitments that

have been agreed to by the international community.

Uganda is committed to fulfilling the objectives

and goals of the New Partnership for Africa's

Development (NEPAD). In that connection, we

welcome the Group of Eight (G-8) Africa Action Plan,

adopted by the heads of State or Government of the

eight major industrialized countries at their Summit at

Kananaskis, Canada. NEPAD recognizes that the

primary responsibility for Africa's future and for its

development rests with Africans, but Africa needs

7

support from its development partners. It is against that

background that Uganda appreciates the commitment

made by the G-8 Governments to mobilize and

energize global action, to marshal resources and

expertise, and to provide impetus in support of

NEPAD's objectives. We welcome the adoption of the

United Nations Declaration on the New Partnership for

Africa's Development by this session of the General

Assembly (resolution 57/2) and the overwhelming

support that NEPAD has received from the

international community.

Uganda believes that trade — especially free and

fair trade — is the engine of growth and development.

In that regard, we urge the international community to

make every effort to ensure that the multilateral trading

system caters for the special needs of the least

developed countries with practical measures that can

improve their terms of trade, enhance their export

capacity and sustain their balance of payments.

The major agricultural products of the least

developed countries, such as coffee, cotton, bananas

and tea, are exported to several markets, notably the

European Union, the United States of America and

Canada. Because of that fact, conditions of market

access are of critical importance for defining the

trading opportunities of the least developed countries.

While Uganda welcomes the African Growth and

Opportunity Act adopted by the United States and the

European Union's Everything But Arms initiative, we

believe these positive developments should be

complemented by simplified rules of origin and

coordinated programmes of assistance by the donor

community to increase the capacity of least developed

countries to produce and market more. We are

encouraged by Canada's unilateral decision to lift

tariffs on African exports to Canada and to abolish

subsidies on agricultural products. We urge other

countries to emulate this positive example.

The collapse of commodity prices has contributed

to a drastic decline in the terms of trade of the least

developed countries. This matter deserves urgent

attention by the international community if the least

developed countries are to be fully integrated into the

multilateral trading system. We call upon the international

community to implement fully the provisions of the

Doha Declaration in favour of the least developed

countries and, in addition, to provide technical support

to build their capacity in ongoing negotiations.

In the short term, aid can be — indeed, it has

been — beneficial for the development of developing

countries. In that respect, Uganda would like to appeal

to the donor countries to make the necessary effort to

honour the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of gross

national product for official development assistance.

We thank those countries which have already reached

or even surpassed that target.

I would like to say that Uganda supports the

Secretary-General's efforts to reform the United

Nations system to make it more efficient and effective.

Reform of the Security Council is, however, long

overdue. We appeal to all Member States to expedite

the process of reform, including the expansion of the

Council's membership in its permanent and non-

permanent categories.

Finally, I would like to reiterate Uganda's full

commitment to multilateralism and to the principles

and purposes of the United Nations. We are ready to

make every effort to achieve the lofty goals set by the

international community at the Millennium Summit.