Cameroon, 2001

I should like at the outset to express the

profound sympathy and condolences of Cameroon to

the Government and the people of the United States of

America and of the Dominican Republic for the

accident involving the American Airlines Airbus on 12

November in New York.

It was also with great dismay and sadness that we

learned of the natural disaster that struck the brotherly

people of Algeria with such severity. On behalf of the

people and the Government of Cameroon, I would like

to extend to that country our most profound

condolences and solidarity.

Rarely has a session of the General Assembly

been such a focus of international public attention or

aroused the interest of the worldwide media to the

extent that the current session has. The annual session

of the General Assembly is a powerful symbol of the

coming together of nations, the promotion of cultures

and respect for differences and freedoms. This year,

however, a shadow has been cast over our session by

the recent, terrible attacks of 11 September, which took

place not far from here. Cameroon addressed that

subject at length during the debate on international

terrorism that took place on 5 October. I should

therefore simply like to reaffirm, on behalf of His

Excellency Mr. Paul Biya, President of the Republic of

Cameroon, our sincere condolences to the families that

have suffered as a result of the tragedy, as well as our

solidarity with the city of New York and the

Government of the United States.

We must, of course, emerge from this period of

mourning. We must unite our forces to eliminate the

centres of destruction that are responsible for this

tragedy. Each of the States Members of the United

Nations, acting together, must nip international

terrorism in the bud before it spreads any further.

Lowering our guard when confronted with this great

peril, or appearing to be helpless in the face of the

criminal fanatics who are sowing terror, would expose

each State and each individual on earth, turning them

into potential victims of this lethal danger.

The President of the General Assembly, Mr. Han,

comes from Korea, whose patient, wise and resolute

peoples have long been engaged in a courageous

political struggle to heal the wounds of the past. We are

convinced that he will be able to guide the Assembly at

its fifty-sixth session through this period of great

turbulence. He can rest assured of my delegation’s full

support.

The delegation of Cameroon would also like to

express its gratitude to his predecessor, His Excellency

Mr. Harri Holkeri, who presided with great skill over

the work of the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth

session. He perfectly reflected the modest, generous

and supportive character of Finland.

The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the United

Nations and its Secretary-General is cause for hope and

optimism for the development of the Organization.

Cameroon welcomes that dual tribute. As the head of

State of Cameroon said in his message of

congratulations to the Secretary-General, Africa is

proud that the Oslo jury chose to honour Kofi Annan.

That award strengthens and reaffirms the unanimity

and confidence of the General Assembly, which

presided over the re-election — an election that seemed

quite natural — of that great servant of the peoples of

the United Nations for a second mandate as Secretary-

General of our Organization.

Indeed, all States Members of the United Nations

must be proud that the Nobel Peace Prize was also

awarded to the Organization. It is the first time in the

history of the United Nations that the Organization

itself has been honoured with such a distinction. That

gesture confirms — if such a confirmation was

needed — that the Organization, in which we are all

players, is truly a major instrument of world peace that

embodies all of our hopes for a better world.

As an instrument of world peace, the United

Nations took up, the day after the attacks of 11

September, both the struggle against international

terrorism and the crisis in Afghanistan. The

international community as a whole, through Security

Council and General Assembly resolutions, was able to

support the military intervention carried out against the

presumed masterminds of those attacks, their networks

and their Taliban protectors.

In the same way that we honour the memory of

the victims of New York, Washington, D.C., and

Pennsylvania, we must also honour the memory of the

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civilian victims in Afghanistan, including the three

French and German journalists.

Cameroon, I repeat, believes that the alleged

criminals must be held responsible for their actions.

Moreover, we urge the international community to

strive to prevent Afghanistan from re-engaging with

the old demons of conflict between the armed clans

that have defeated the Taliban today. Cameroon

therefore calls for an immediate manifestation of the

United Nations presence in Kabul.

Under the powers granted to it by the

international community, in particular under Chapter

VII of the Charter, the Security Council, with the

essential support of all Members of our Organization,

must swiftly undertake all necessary actions to restore

and maintain peace in Afghanistan and to provide

humanitarian assistance to people who have been left

destitute and traumatized by an apparently endless civil

war.

We must urgently prevent the flames of war from

spreading inexorably throughout Afghanistan. We must

also recall from this rostrum, however, that it is high

time to douse the fires that have been burning for

decades in Palestine, a land of peace. We must

extinguish the fires that, conflict after conflict, are

devastating the Democratic Republic of the Congo and

the Great Lakes region, as well as those that have

consumed Angola for over 25 years. It is high time

that, like those who fought the fires in New York on 11

September, we act as firefighters to put an end to the

fratricidal wars of the African continent, Central

America and other disadvantaged regions of the planet.

We must remain vigilant in preserving the particularly

fragile peace in the Balkans.

We are convinced that the best firefighter to

contain the ravages of war and the threats that loom

over peace and security throughout the world is the

United Nations. Without the determination of States,

however, and the respect of those States for

unanimously adopted rules, it is vain to hope to achieve

the result targeted for the Organization by the Charter.

The activity of the United Nations will have no effect if

the resolutions it adopts to contribute to settling a

conflict are not respected by the parties concerned and

involved.

Why, after more than half a century, have we not

been able to end the conflict in the Middle East, in

which Palestinians and Israelis are in ever more brutal

and violent opposition? Why can we not find the

resources necessary to the United Nations to nip in the

bud the fratricidal wars that have bled and disrupted

entire regions of the African continent since the dawn

of independence? These are the persistent questions

that haunt international public opinion. Just as all men

must naturally be equal before the law, States must be

treated on the same footing of equality out of respect

for international law and the principles defined by the

United Nations.

The implementation of resolutions and

recommendations adopted at the Millennium Summit

would enable great progress to be made towards the

world of harmony that globalization is supposed to

establish. Man and the safeguarding of his life and

dignity, wherever he may live, must be restored as our

priority. Man and the safeguarding of his life and

dignity must once again be the central focus of our

actions, thoughts and concerns.

The attacks of 11 September in the United States

and the spotlighting of international terrorism must

prompt us to take action, of course, but it must also and

especially lead us to reflection. We have seen how the

promoters of those who thus endanger the new world

order also invoke a policy of double standards to

justify their fanatical acts. We have also read in many

of their communiqués their claim to be leading a

crusade on behalf of a religious community that,

according to them, has been treated unfairly by others.

We understand, finally, that they have also cited the

living conditions of many hundreds of millions of

people, the poorest of the poor, as an argument for

fighting that part of the world that plunders and

dominates them in a spirit of complete indifference. We

must do all we can to avoid giving such excuses and

pretexts to individuals and groups who in fact have

nothing but criminal motives.

Cameroon has maintained and continues to

maintain that the United Nations must, more than ever

before, continue to affirm the necessary links of

solidarity within the international community and the

need for balance in international relations. Support and

development assistance for the poorest regions of the

world are essentials recalled not only in the resolutions

of the Millennium Summit, but also at the most recent

Third United Nations Conference on the Least

Developed Countries, held this year in Brussels. The

recovery efforts of the countries of the South — inter

alia, the New African Initiative on economic matters —

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must be accompanied and supported by the most

prosperous States. During the annual session of the

Economic and Social Council last summer in Geneva,

over which Cameroon had the honour of presiding,

these principles and requirements were broadly

recalled and, thank goodness, endorsed.

In spite of the commitments undertaken at one

world summit after the other, the gap between the

regions of the North and the South is growing wider by

the day. Destitution, poverty, epidemics, the AIDS

pandemic and the technology divide are not matters of

fate. Over and above solidarity, a more just and

balanced practice of commercial exchange, notably

through the opening of markets to the most

disadvantaged countries, could also help to bridge that

gap. The forthcoming International Conference on

Financing for Development, to be held next year in

Mexico under United Nations auspices, should provide

an opportunity for a deeper reflection on these

priorities.

On 1 January 2002, Cameroon will take its place

at the Security Council table on behalf of Africa as a

non-permanent member. I would like to express on

behalf of His Excellency Paul Biya, President of the

Republic of Cameroon, all of our gratitude to all of the

Member States of our Organization for the confidence

placed in my country. In the current international

circumstances, we realize the full value of this

confidence.

Cameroon is committed to fully assuming its

official duties in making its modest contribution, in the

Council, to the maintenance of international peace and

security.