Angola, 2003

I would like

to start by congratulating Mr. Julian Hunte on his

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election to the presidency of the General Assembly at

its fifty-eight session. We wish him great success in the

fulfilment of this difficult and lofty task.

The current session is taking place at one of the

most troubled times in our era. The recent events in the

Gulf region were a severe test of the capacity and

readiness of the United Nations to provide appropriate

responses to the challenges presently faced by the

international community. The impact of these events

somehow diminished the cohesion of our world

Organization and weakened trust among its Members.

There was a failure in the international security system,

which puts us in the position of needing immediately to

make it more effective.

In fact, the present international security system,

created after the last great war — despite having to

date prevented the outbreak of a new world conflict —

has shown signs of an incompatibility in the global

collective security interests of the Members of the

United Nations in relation to the new challenges of this

millennium.

We are in urgent need of an integrated system

capable of dealing effectively with the major threats to

international stability at the outset of this twenty-first

century, specifically terrorism and international

organized crime; weapons of mass destruction; internal

conflicts, which, unfortunately, continue to plague the

African continent in particular; generalized poverty;

and HIV/AIDS.

Terrorism is today the most direct threat to the

security of our countries, as can be seen from the attacks

that in the past two years have killed thousands of

civilians in the United States, Russia, Africa and Asia.

With regard to armed conflicts, the situation

continues to require urgent attention. During the last

decade, approximately one third of African States were

either directly or indirectly affected by internal conflicts,

which resulted in costs as high as $15 billion a year, and

caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, massive

displacements of people, famine and malnutrition, and

the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

The prevalence of conflicts in Africa is not only

the result of the divisions inherited from the post-

colonial period and the cold war and of ethnic and

religious differences. It is also a consequence of factors

such as the fragility of national institutions, the

marginalization of the African continent from the

world economy, the illegal exploitation of natural

resources and the resulting arms proliferation, and the

weak monitoring of national borders. This situation

must be swiftly reversed, since it can endanger the

future of millions of Africans and increase the risk of

certain areas of the continent’s becoming true

sanctuaries for terrorist organizations.

Improving United Nations political institutions

and security systems constitutes the most effective

method of addressing the threats facing humankind. It

is therefore necessary to establish new mechanisms

outside of the traditional strategic doctrines. The

international legal documents created by the United

Nations, and the current alliances between States, have

proved insufficient to respond adequately and in a

consensual manner to such threats, particularly when they

are posed by entities that are not themselves States.

Because of its universal nature, the United

Nations plays a central role in the management of

current and future challenges. But that is not enough. It

is crucial that that role be performed within a more

democratic and participative framework, particularly

with regard to major decisions on international peace

and security.

Iraq and other parts of the Middle East are the

main hotbeds of tension in the world today, and the

combined efforts of the United Nations are being

focused on that region. The continued loss of life in

Iraq — with most of those killed being innocent

civilians, including United Nations officials, among

them the late Special Representative of the Secretary-

General, Sergio Vieira de Mello — is a reminder of the

need for increased support by the international

community to ensure the security of the Iraqi people,

the building of new institutions and the beginning of

the reconstruction of the country.

The will of the international community, and

certainly that of the Iraqi people, is for Iraq to become,

as soon as possible, a viable, democratic State with

institutions validated by its people, and a country living

in peace with its neighbours.

The achievement of this goal implies the

establishment of a political and institutional framework

in which the United Nations plays an active role,

specifically in the pacification and unification of the

country; in the internal political dialogue; in the

process of national reconciliation; and in the

establishment of new democratic institutions.

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Angola hopes that the present convergence of

positions among the members of the Security Council

on the role of the United Nations in Iraq will facilitate

an understanding relative to the transitional process in

general and to the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqi

people.

Angola deplores the loss of civilian life and the

material damage caused by the escalation of the

conflict in the Middle East. The rekindling of violence

between Palestinians and Israelis represents the

greatest danger to the implementation of the road map

for peace, whose ultimate objective is the signing of an

agreement for the creation of an independent, viable

Palestinian State, living side by side and in peace with

Israel and its other neighbours. In our view, that is the

only solution capable of putting a definite end to the

cycle of violence.

The end, last year, of the armed conflict in

Angola, and the success of the peace process, are

among the most extraordinary political achievements

seen in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years. With the

attainment of peace in Angola, the Southern African

region became, for the first time in several decades, a

zone free from conflict, and it can now focus its human

and material resources on reconstruction and

development efforts.

Angola today is a country in its post-conflict

stage. It is committed to the tasks of overcoming the

heavy burden of a 40-year conflict, focusing on the

strengthening of its democratic process — which even

during the difficult war period was never abandoned by

the Government — and fully resuming its legitimate

role within the regional and international context.

As a result of the impact of the conflict on the

human, economic, social and financial structures of the

country, and given the inequities inherited from our

colonial past, the current post-conflict stage — which

will lead to the building of a new society in Angola —

is a difficult and painful one, and this has been an

obvious impediment to an immediate response to the

legitimate aspirations of Angolan citizens.

The challenges that confront Angola are enormous

— perhaps immeasurable. The main challenges include

the resettlement of more than 4 million displaced

persons and 450,000 refugees; the social reintegration

of more than 80,000 former military personnel and

their respective families; the resolution of the problem

of absolute poverty, which now afflicts more than half

of the Angolan population; and the reconstruction of

the social and economic infrastructure.

At the same time, in spite of the scarcity of

available resources, we are creating the necessary

conditions to hold elections in the near future. Despite

our numerous problems and challenges, there is hardly

any assistance from the international community for

Angola, as compared with other countries in similar

circumstances, some of which received an immediate

response to their appeals, even though they lacked de

jure institutions. We would like to believe that such

treatment is not the result of any form of discrimination

against our country.

There is no example in modern history of a State,

rich or poor, that, in the aftermath of a devastating and

destructive war such as that which afflicted Angola,

has managed to overcome the burden left by such a war

and rise again without outside assistance. In Angola,

this reconstruction effort has, up to now, been borne

solely by the Angolans themselves, in spite of the

reiterated promises that the only factor that hindered

the supply of aid to our reconstruction was the

pacification of our country.

We hereby renew, therefore, our appeal to the

international community to help Angola in its domestic

reconstruction effort. To this end, my delegation will

submit a draft resolution on international assistance

and the reconstruction and economic development of

Angola, which proposes that an international donor

conference be convened. We are counting on the

support of the Assembly.

Angola also welcomes the progress made in the

area of peace and security in other regions of the

continent, especially the Democratic Republic of

Congo. The role of Angola, as well as that of its

partners, was crucial in preventing a situation of chaos

and disintegration in the territory of that brotherly

country, with which we share a long border, and in

convincing the parties to give up war and choose

instead a negotiated political solution.

The Congolese patriots have shown signs of great

maturity in guaranteeing the success of the peace process

and the transformation of the Democratic Republic of the

Congo into a viable country that does not constitute a

threat to the stability of its border regions.

Angola will continue to be open to strengthening

the traditional relations of friendship and cooperation it

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has maintained with the authorities of the interim

Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

as well as with future authorities that are legitimately

elected by popular vote.

There is still a stalemate with regard to the

situation in the Western Sahara. Difficulties regarding

the holding of a referendum on the self-determination

of the territory are a hindrance to the search for a

definitive solution to this question. Angola urges the

parties involved to show flexibility and seek a political

solution that enables the people of that territory to

decide freely about their own destiny.

Today, as one part of the world, particularly the

industrialized countries, enjoys considerable wealth, 40

per cent of the 600 million Africans continue to survive

on less than one dollar a day. In fact, Africa continues

to show the lowest social and economic development

indicators, and those levels are becoming even worse, due

to the marginalization of the African countries in the

progress of globalization and within the world economy,

where trade and capital share are only 1 per cent.

Africa is also the continent that benefits the least

in terms of foreign direct investment, receiving only 7

per cent of the investment targeted at the developing

countries. External debt has been a huge obstacle to the

development process because repayment of the debt

service alone has depleted the already-limited national

resources of the African States. Angola supports the

cancellation of the external debt service of the least

developed countries, particularly those in the African

continent.

The macroeconomic measures imposed by the

Bretton Woods institutions within the framework of the

structural adjustment programme have not always been

able to help the African continent overcome its

international economic problems. In many cases, that

has led to controversial results. Based on such results,

experience has shown that, in fact, the financial

institutions very often do not take into account the

idiosyncrasies of each country and frequently put the

Governments in the position of choosing between

meeting the conditions imposed by the financial

institutions or meeting the real needs of their people.

Angola hopes that, with the establishment of the

African Union and the launching of the New

Partnership for Africa’s Development, the tragic

situation in which the African continent finds itself

today can be alleviated by setting priorities and giving

special attention to immediate economic development

issues.