Angola, 2004

I am

overwhelmed with a great sense of joy at seeing

Mr. Ping preside over the General Assembly at this

fifty-ninth session. My first words are thus to convey

to him, on behalf of my Government and on my own

behalf, the most heartfelt congratulations upon his

election. Our satisfaction springs from the great esteem

in which the Angolan people hold your country and

from the strong ties of friendship and fraternity that

unite us.

I would also like to congratulate your predecessor

for the dynamic manner in which he carried out his

mandate.

53

At a time when the world is confronting the

horrors of violence, poverty and hunger, the members

of the Assembly once again have the difficult

responsibility of assessing the implementation of their

decisions and of seeking new solutions to problems

that affect millions of human beings — solutions that

will require a mechanism for international cooperation.

The United Nations must remain the pivotal

instrument for States in dealing with new international

challenges to peace and security, such as terrorism;

hunger; poverty; violations of human rights that

continue to deprive millions of human beings of their

fundamental freedoms; the degradation of the

environment; organized transnational crime, including

drug trafficking; and HIV/AIDS.

The recent difficulties that the United Nations has

confronted in dealing with situations that have

seriously affected international security have exposed

the limitations of its structure and its operation. The

United Nations system must be urgently reformed and

adapted to the demands and challenges of the current

situation, which is characterized by globalization.

The main organs of the United Nations lack the

broad democratic character that they need in order to

express the will of the majority of the Members of the

Organization. Both categories of membership of the

Security Council should be expanded — on the basis of

equitable geographical representation — so as to

reflect the new international order.

In the past 50 years, humanity has made

important advances in the areas of science and

technology, economic development, medicine and

other fields, which have resulted in improved living

conditions and in an increase in the life expectancy of

vast segments of the world’s population, as well as in

the growth of the world’s material and even spiritual

wealth.

However, while some countries and continents

have shared in those gains, others continue to be

marginalized — overwhelmed by economic setbacks

that force a significant part of their population to live

below the poverty line.

The aspirations of such people to a world of

social justice and the full exercise of their economic

and social rights, including the right to development,

continue to be unfulfilled. In fact, the ranks of the poor

have not stopped growing: since 1990, the number of

poor people has been growing in sub-Saharan Africa,

Southern Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In the recent summit on hunger and poverty,

promoted by the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva,

world leaders highlighted the dramatic situation of

billions of human beings living mainly in developing

countries who are suffering from hunger, malnutrition

and diseases that are easily preventable.

This is a reprehensible picture, and we must

therefore make the eradication of hunger and poverty a

priority in our national policies and on the

Organization’s agenda. This dramatic situation could

rapidly be reversed by a greater commitment on the

part of the Governments of developing countries and a

stronger political will on the part of the richest

countries.

Furthermore, restrictions on international free

trade have contributed to a deterioration in the living

conditions of people in countries subjected to

restrictive economic measures, as is the case in Cuba.

We believe that such measures constitute an assault on

moral and humanitarian principles.

In spite of the efforts made by developing nations

to improve their economic performance and the

well-being of their populations, the practical results do

not measure up to the needs of the development

process. This is partly the result of the imposition on

developing countries of policies that do not take their

realities into account.

Some institutions and rich countries are

pressuring poor countries to follow the steps taken by

industrialized countries during their economic

development, alleging that developing countries will

develop faster because of the benefits resulting from

the implementation of policies that have in the past

yielded positive results.

Such guidelines do not come close to meeting the

development needs of poor countries. They fail to

place an emphasis on training institutions at the local

and national level; those institutions should, indeed,

serve as levers for development.

Wealthy nations have a moral responsibility to

foster a spirit of partnership, not of inequality and

dependence, so as to contribute to the development of

the less affluent countries and to the establishment of

institutions capable of sustaining their integration into

the global economy.

54

The existing economic disparities between the

wealthy countries of the North and the developing

countries of the South is not the result of choice on the

part of the latter. The enrichment of the industrialized

world has been achieved at the expense of the

impoverishment of the Third World through the

rampant exploitation of its natural resources and

workforce and the imposition of a system of

occupation and dominance.

Today, our countries and peoples are still

suffering as a result of those policies of exploitation

and subjugation, which in some cases have been

worsened by internal conflicts that came about after the

end of the period of foreign dominance.

It appears to us at times that the international

financial institutions and the rich countries deliberately

minimize those facts. From our point of view, the

extensive hesitation with respect to financial assistance

to developing countries is unjustified. Furthermore,

some of the imposed preconditions seem to be a

response more to political interests rather than to the

requirements of sustainable economic development.

We had until recently called on this body and on

the international community to support the restoration

of peace in Angola. That long-sought peace has finally

arrived and it has proved to be irreversible.

The success of the peace process ushered in a

new phase: the laying of the political groundwork for

the construction of a new society, one based on the rule

of law, tolerance, a market economy, and the existence

of a vibrant civil society. In addition to that political

process, my Government is engaged in economic

reform, which is a contributing factor to economic and

social stability. Were it not for the tremendous,

simultaneous challenges that we have had to face, that

process could have been faster.

So far, the Angolan Government has been

tackling alone the task of national reconstruction. That

task involves the rehabilitation of social and productive

infrastructures, which were almost totally destroyed by

the armed conflict; the social reintegration of nearly

100,000 former combatants and their families; the

resettlement of more than 4 million internally displaced

persons and more than 400,000 refugees; and a far-

reaching effort to reduce the poverty that afflicts most

of the population. This very difficult task can be

successful only with the full participation of the

international community.

The reservations expressed by certain

international donors in terms of providing assistance to

Angola — overlooking the fact that the internal

conflict was quite lengthy and destructive, that it

absorbed a large part of the country’s financial, human

and materials resources, and that it disrupted the

country — can be justified only by a lack of political

will.

The reconstruction of Angola urgently requires

partnerships and substantial support comparable to the

assistance given to other countries in post-conflict

situations.

As a country that is rejoicing in the peace and

freedom for which it fought for 40 years, Angola is

concerned with the instability in the Democratic

Republic of the Congo, a country that shares an

extensive land border with Angola, and with which we

have fraternal ties. We were particularly shocked by

the massacres of civilians in Gatumba. The

perpetrators of that heinous act, who provoked a new

escalation of violence in order to make the peace

process unworkable, must be held judicially

accountable. That act makes clear, inter alia, that,

despite the significant efforts made in the context of

the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the

Congo, the situation is still quite fragile.

The international community, particularly the

Security Council and the African Union, must devote

special and ongoing attention to this issue in order to

avoid a collapse of the process.

In that context, subregional organizations, the

countries of the region and other bodies involved in the

pursuit of lasting peace in that country must cooperate,

with a view to encouraging the Congolese parties to

meet their commitments under the transitional process.

It is crucial that all the countries neighbouring the

Democratic Republic of the Congo reiterate their

commitment to continue to respect the sovereignty and

territorial integrity of the country and not to interfere

in its internal affairs.

The Transitional Government of the Democratic

Republic of the Congo needs the support of the

international community. My Government is willing, to

the extent of its ability, to supply the necessary

assistance in the process of the consolidation of peace

and stability in that country.

55

The crisis in Darfur is a thorn in the international

juridical conscience. Angola supports the decision of

the Secretary-General to authorize an investigation. We

hope that the authorities of the Sudan will fully

cooperate with the African Union and the Security

Council in their efforts to help bring peace to the

people of that region. We believe that there now exists

a solid basis for resolving that conflict.

Having in the past been a victim of terrorism,

Angola cannot be indifferent to acts of terrorism,

wherever they may happen. The acts of terrorism we

have witnessed in recent times, and the vile and cruel

form they have taken, should not discourage the efforts

that the international community has been making to

root out their perpetrators, but should instead increase

its determination to isolate terrorist groups and stymie

their efforts.

We believe, however, that we should reflect

further on ways to prevent and combat terrorism. Have

the methods used to date been effective in eradicating

terrorism? Is the current system of collective security

capable of coping with the aggressiveness of the

terrorists? Would responses to terrorism based on the

multilateral efforts of the United Nations be less

effective?