Uganda, 2003

On behalf of the

Uganda delegation, I wish to congratulate you,

Mr. President, on your election to preside over the

fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly. We are

confident that, under your able leadership, we shall

achieve the objectives of our deliberations. Let me also

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

excellent leadership he has provided to the United

Nations during a very trying and difficult year.

My country attaches great importance to the

centrality of the United Nations in the maintenance of

international peace and security and in fostering

international development cooperation. In that regard,

Uganda hopes that this session of the General

Assembly will focus on the critical reform of the

United Nations to meet the new challenges to

multilateralism.

Terrorism has reached epic proportions as a threat

to international peace and security. Particularly since

11 September, terrorist organizations have

indiscriminately attacked, killed and maimed thousands

of innocent civilians in Asia, the Middle East, Africa,

Europe and the Americas. In northern Uganda, a

terrorist organization called the Lords Resistance Army

has killed hundreds, displaced thousands and abducted

children into forced recruitment and sale in slavery.

On 19 August, the terrorists chose to strike at the

heart of the United Nations. They attacked the United

Nations offices in Baghdad. That callous attack led to

the death of innocent Iraqis and many members of the

United Nations staff, including the Secretary-General’s

Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello. On

behalf of the Government and people of Uganda, I wish

to express sincere condolences to the Secretary-

General and to the bereaved families. We must

condemn those acts of terrorism in the strongest terms,

and the international community must unite to fight

this scourge. Under no circumstances should

indiscriminate use of violence be justified.

We must acknowledge that the emergence of new

threats such as terrorism and weapons of mass

destruction, combined with genocide and the massive

violation of human rights, poses a clear and present

challenge to the United Nations.

My country, therefore, shares the view of the

Secretary-General that the time has come to examine

the fundamental policy issues and structural

mechanisms that may be needed to deal with these new

challenges. We support his proposal to establish a

group of eminent persons to make recommendations

regarding the necessary reforms of the Security

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Council and other United Nations institutions and

processes.

On the situation in the Middle East, Uganda

welcomes the Quartet-led road map for a

comprehensive settlement. We support the

establishment of a Palestinian State living side by side

and in peace with Israel, within secure and recognized

borders, in accordance with the relevant Security

Council resolutions.

I now turn to the Great Lakes region of Africa.

We are pleased to note that there have been positive

developments as a result of regional and international

efforts to build peace and stability in the region. In the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Transitional

Government of National Unity has been established in

accordance with the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement and

the related Pretoria and Luanda Agreements, as well as

the relevant resolutions of the Security Council.

Uganda remains committed to supporting the

peace process in the Democratic Republic of the

Congo, including ending the Lendu-Hema inter-ethnic

conflict in the Ituri Province. Uganda encouraged the

Security Council to establish a robust force of the

United Nations Organization Mission in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), under

Chapter VII, for peacekeeping operations in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, including the

disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation,

resettlement and reintegration of negative forces.

In that regard, Uganda welcomes Security

Council resolution 1493 (2003). My country provided

Entebbe airbase for logistical support to the European

Union-led stabilization force in Bunia in July, 2003.

We have also concluded an agreement with MONUC to

utilize Entebbe airbase, as well as the Kasese and Arua

Airports, for United Nations operations in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo.

With regard to the situation in Burundi, the

implementation of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation

Agreement remains on track, under the regional

initiative presided over by President Museveni of

Uganda and facilitated by Deputy President Zuma of

South Africa. The African Union mission in Burundi

has been established. We call upon the international

community, including the Security Council, to provide

the necessary support for the mission.

On the situation in the Sudan, the Government of

Uganda commends the Government of the Sudan and

the Sudan People’s Liberation Army for the historic

agreement on security arrangements, signed in

Naivasha, Kenya, last week. We urge the parties to

expedite the negotiation of the remaining issues so that

a comprehensive agreement can be reached. The

restoration of peace, security and political stability in

the Sudan is not only good for the long-suffering

people of that country, but also for Africa as a whole.

Uganda particularly welcomed the initiative of

the Secretary-General to convene a high-level meeting,

which adopted the Principles on Good-Neighbourly

Relations and Cooperation between the Democratic

Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda

on 25 September. Our countries pledged to refrain from

interfering directly or indirectly in one another’s

internal affairs, including making sure that none of the

neighbouring countries’ territory is used to arm, supply

or host any hostile elements or armed groups against

the other.

These efforts, aimed at the restoration of peace,

security, political stability and good-neighbourliness,

are not only good for the Great Lakes region, but also

for Africa and indeed the entire international

community. Uganda strongly believes that these are

necessary pre-conditions for regional integration and

the promotion of trade and investment to meet the

needs of our people. To that end, Uganda welcomes

and supports the forthcoming United Nations

conference on the Great Lakes region.

Despite many commitments already made at

various international forums, the international

community has yet to demonstrate sufficient political

will to mobilize adequate resources to meet the

Millennium Development Goals and to ensure

equitable sharing of the benefits of globalization for

all. The failure of the World Trade Organization

Ministerial Conference, held at Cancún, vividly

demonstrates this.

Since the Millennium Summit in 2000, important

plans of action, declarations and strategies have been

agreed upon, inter alia, in Brussels, Doha, Monterrey,

Johannesburg and Almaty, for the achievement of

sustainable development and the Millennium

Development Goals. The challenge for the international

community now is to ensure their full and effective

follow-up and implementation. The international

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community must accord special priority to the

development needs of the landlocked and least

developed countries, in order to facilitate their full

integration into the global system. Although official

development assistance will continue to play an

important role in development, Uganda regards trade as

the single most important external source of

development financing and productivity growth. In this

respect, the Doha Development Agenda should ensure

that the least developed countries not only have access

to markets, but also attain capacity to produce

competitively for those markets. We call upon the

developed countries to show the necessary flexibility,

especially on the question of agricultural subsidies, to

allow for the full and timely completion of the

comprehensive agenda agreed upon at Doha.

The fifty-seventh United Nations General

Assembly endorsed the New Partnership for Africa’s

Development (NEPAD) as a home-grown African

framework for international development cooperation

within the continent. We reiterate the call made last

week from this podium by the current Chairman of the

African Union, President Joachim Chissano of

Mozambique, for strong and effective support for

NEPAD by the international community.

In summary, my country has supported the call

for collective action against terrorism and weapons of

mass destruction. We have noted the positive

developments in the Great Lakes region and expressed

our commitment to building a peaceful and stable

region. We have also underscored the need for urgent

and effective implementation of agreed upon plans of

action to meet the Millennium Development Goals and

to assure practical support for NEPAD. Finally, Uganda

has reaffirmed its full commitment to the purposes and

principles of the United Nations.