Cape Verde, 1997

My delegation is pleased to greet you, Sir, as

President of the General Assembly at its fifty-second

session. I congratulate you warmly on your election; we

have full confidence in your notable qualities as a wise and

experienced diplomat.

I wish also to pay tribute to your predecessor,

Ambassador Razali Ismail, for the outstanding manner in

which he carried out his responsibilities. We all benefitted

from his exceptional ability and his dedication.

We were delighted at the election of the illustrious

African Mr. Kofi Annan to the post of Secretary-General at

a critical time in the history of the Organization. His

splendid performance in other high United Nations posts

and the creativity and dynamism that have marked the

beginning of his term justify the legitimate hopes we have

all placed in him.

The numerous and complex challenges before us at the

dawn of the third millennium can be faced only by the

combined will and efforts of all Member States. My

Government fully recognizes the prominent role of the

United Nations in the constant quest for relevant solutions.

In today’s world, in which sovereignty is less and less

respected, interdependence and globalization are becoming

increasingly real and tangible. As a result, we need the

creation of new tools capable of raising confidence to a

higher level and increasing cooperation between all

international actors in a collective effort that alone can

provide answers to the global questions confronting us.

For several years, our Organization has been

experiencing an intensified process of reform aimed at

giving it revitalized energy, renewed representativeness and

legitimacy, increased effectiveness and greater transparency.

The first consensus is emerging, and its benefits will

doubtless soon be felt. Recent examples of this include the

resolution adopted by the General Assembly following

discussions in the Open-ended High-level Working Group

on the Strengthening of the United Nations System, as well

as the adoption of an Agenda for Development, and the

gains achieved so far on the road towards an Agenda for

Peace.

It is very desirable that equally worthwhile progress

take place in parallel with regard to the financial situation

of the Organization. In this regard, my country shares the

very broad consensus on the need for Member States to

respect their obligation under the Charter to pay their

contributions on time, in full and without conditions.

Reform of the Security Council is one of the most

difficult elements among all the reforms being studied.

The broad agreement required for a formula has not yet

been found. Cape Verde recalls the joint position of the

non-aligned countries, which are demanding non-

discriminatory treatment for the developing countries, in

particular with regard to the prerogatives accorded to the

permanent members of the Council. For its part, Africa is

now working to refine practical means for rotation within

the continent of the seats that it expects to be at its

disposal to represent its Member States.

The Secretary-General has shown us how convinced

he is of the imperative for reform. He took certain

decisions and began to implement them. He then asked us

for advice and proposals. A fundamental objective of the

proposed reforms is to provide unity and consistency to

the global activity of the system, and thereby to have an

increased impact. Structural transformations and changes

in working methods are the favoured instruments for the

implementation of this objective.

We thank and warmly congratulate the Secretary-

General for his initiative, whose focus and broad scope

reveal a deep knowledge of the Organization’s situation

and an enlightened vision of the directions that should be

taken. We will give constructive support to these

proposals in the consultations that will soon be

intensifying at different levels: in the African Group, the

Group of 77 and the General Assembly.

The quality of the future to which humankind aspires

depends on what we can do today to give human beings

their dignity and guarantee that they can enjoy the

fundamental rights recognized in the international legal

instruments that reflect our collective conscience. We

must all commit ourselves to the resolute protection and

constant promotion of human rights. The United Nations

is dedicated to doing so at several levels and through

different instruments. The Commission on Human Rights

is one of the important ones, and Cape Verde is gratified

that it is able to contribute to its work. To accomplish this

task, which is limitless, we must ensure that we construct

human rights around the axes that complement and

5

interact with them, as is the case with democracy and

development.

Fully functioning democracy provides a vital impetus

for the establishment of a human and institutional

environment conducive to development and the

implementation of human rights. However, beyond the

formal political dimension, conditions must be created that

allow all of our citizens to live in dignity and achieve

improved standards of living. The right to development is

therefore reaffirmed as a cornerstone for concerted action

to ensure that such a right can be enjoyed by everyone

throughout the world.

It is time to establish a true international understanding

for development. Everything possible should be done to

ensure that the Agenda for Development, long the subject

of negotiation and recently adopted by the General

Assembly, is fully implemented in practice. In this context,

we regard as promising those concerted efforts recently

made by the global institutions, including the United

Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United

Nations Development Programme, the Bretton Woods

institutions and the World Trade Organization in areas

critical for development, such as financial flows, investment

and commerce. We encourage the intensification of this

concerted action, which has also been requested by the

Economic and Social Council and encouraged by the

Secretary-General. It can make a considerable contribution

to the establishment of international cooperation, leading to

development at both the global and country level.

We are presently engaged in a race against the clock.

Many developing countries urgently need, finally, to

experience the stirrings of an economic lift-off within the

international trend. Otherwise, we are afraid that the hard-

won reforms of the past and present will not be sustained,

and will still less be able to gain the social backing that

alone can ensure the eventual transition to the second

generation of reforms.

The progress that we envisage is not limited solely to

the economic arena. Solidarity will also be required. We

cannot accept the continued existence of certain barriers

that we have erected and that are now impeding us from

fully enjoying our fundamental rights. I am thinking of such

perversions as racism and exclusion areas based on

xenophobia, discrimination which is inflicted on so many

individuals, particularly immigrants.

Migratory movements have taken place throughout

history. We should treat them with understanding and

dialogue, which will enable us to find solutions to the

inevitable problems, rather than allow them to become

exacerbated. In this regard, international instruments can

be extremely useful. It is important that the International

Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant

Workers and Members of Their Families finally enter into

force. We also hope that the Assembly will follow up the

resolution of the Economic and Social Council on

convening a world conference against racism, racial and

ethnic discrimination, xenophobia and other related

contemporary forms of intolerance.

On this continuing and unequal march towards

development, in which all are involved, some of our

countries remain among the least advanced. At a time of

increased globalization, to warn against the risk of

consolidating and perpetuating the marginalization of

these countries is not mere rhetorical overstatement. On

the contrary, this danger is very real. The least-developed

countries’ share of world exports continues to languish at

very low levels, and their rate of growth even dropped in

1996.

External trade is vital for reversing the present

situation of the least developed countries. The decision

adopted in Marrakesh regarding measures to help them,

as well as the World Trade Organization Plan of Action

adopted last December in Singapore, recognize that the

least developed countries urgently need to achieve a

lasting increase in their exports. These countries must

therefore significantly improve their competitive

capability, and their exports of goods and services must

have free access to all global markets.

In this sense, we are expecting initiatives from the

high-level meeting on the least developed countries, to be

held next month in Geneva aided by increased

institutional synergy between those international bodies

with competence and responsibility in areas critical for

the development of the least developed countries.

The foreign debt of these countries continues to

grow. The problem continues to be inadequately handled,

as regards both the categories of countries covered by

initiatives and the actual level of the initiatives. All least

developed countries — not only the most critically

affected — need adequate and lasting relief.

Moreover, the financing of certain elements

indispensable for international integration of these

countries, such as infrastructure and education, to cite

only a few, requires a significantly increased flow of

6

public development aid. For the least developed countries,

this will become ever more necessary in the future.

In Cape Verde, a least developed country which has

suffered a prolonged drought, there is today national

consensus about the country’s future and the major paths to

be followed. The reforms which we are undertaking have

the support of the nation, which can legitimately aspire to

improving its living conditions today, and not in the distant

future.

The fact that the African continent contains the

majority of the world’s least developed countries speaks

eloquently of its limitations. For the international

community, Africa is a test of its will and its ability to

meet the challenge of global development. The world will

not be developed so long as Africa is not developed.

Solutions, as we know, begin at home. The present

and the recent past of our continent confirm that we

understand this, and are acting upon it more and more. I

take this opportunity to thank those in the international

community who are firmly supporting Africa’s development

and encourage them to have greater confidence in the future

of our continent and in the partnership between Africa and

its friends.

If the Africans continue to step up the changes under

way in the right direction, and if there is concrete progress

and cooperation in the international environment, it is likely

that the positive signs of the last few years will

progressively be consolidated in Africa.

However, there are constraints of another nature

impeding the general progress sought by our continent:

situations of conflict and potential conflict, which continue

to proliferate, some of them particularly bloody.

Experience — particularly recent experience — has shown

that these conflicts are often highly complex. They become

deeply rooted and thus thwart any diplomatic or other

attempts at solution. However, that is no reason for the

United Nations and its Member States to give up their

efforts to solve these problems.

Working together and in concert with the United

Nations, the Africans are becoming more active in their

efforts at the regional level to contribute to preventing and

managing the conflicts on the continent. Africa needs

international support in order to step up its capacities in this

area. Such support should not become a means of

discrimination, negative or positive, with regard to certain

conflicts as compared with others, based on the subjective

preferences of donors. The multilateral nature of the

United Nations and the Organization of African Unity

(OAU) implies avoidance of this risk and balanced

treatment of conflict situations.

The case of Angola has called for the greatest efforts

of the United Nations in Africa — lengthy and repeated

efforts. Unfortunately, a new deterioration in the situation,

with violent consequences, is not impossible at a time

when UNITA is persisting in failing to respect the terms

of the Lusaka Accords. Therefore, the most recent

Security Council resolution on Angola is fully justified,

and we hope that it will have the desired effect. Only a

few days from the expiration of its time limit, we urge

UNITA to take the decisive steps required for lasting

peace in Angola.

We would like to reaffirm here the support of Cape

Verde for the people of East Timor in its quest for

genuine self-determination, the preservation of its identity,

and recognition of and total respect for its rights. We

welcomed the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 to

two eminent individuals from East Timor, Don Ximenes

Belo and Ramos-Horta. That award brought even more

international attention to the situation of their people. It is

time for reason and justice to prevail, and we welcome

the appointment of a Special Representative for East

Timor by the Secretary-General within the framework of

his redoubled efforts to assist in finding an equitable

solution to the conflict in the territory.

Last June, a special session of the General Assembly

to assess the implementation of Agenda 21 achieved

meagre results. All sides — Governments, international

institutions and social groups — are again challenged to

honour the Rio commitments and show more

determination and responsibility on the environment.

Certainly, with regard to control of the causes of

environmental degradation and long-term management of

the planet’s non-renewable resources, different parties

have different responsibilities, but those responsibilities

are shared. Among the numerous constraining factors,

population and consumption remain major factors. While

demographic growth presents encouraging medium- and

long-term indicators, unbalanced rates of consumption

persist and even increase, putting unsustainable pressure

on resources.

My country, a country of the Sahel and an island

nation, is particularly sensitive to certain threats to the

environment, such as drought and desertification, which

7

were the subject of an international Convention giving

particular attention to the situation in Africa. The

Permanent International Committee for Drought Control in

the Sahel (CILSS), of which Cape Verde is a member, is

taking action with a visible impact, which merits continued

support by its external partners.

Another factor for environmental deterioration — this

time a social one — is the scourge of drugs and the human

degradation to which it leads. To combat illegal drug

trafficking and the laundering of the money it generates,

close international cooperation is required, particularly in

the exchange of information and logistical and material

support. This is a global phenomenon, and the means to

combat it must also be formulated globally, with national

and regional foundations. The West African subregion,

through the Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS), has begun concerted efforts. The Political

Declaration of Praia last July laid down the basis for

growing cooperation between the countries involved.

The last years of this millennium mark the end of an

extraordinary period. The era which began with the fall of

the Berlin Wall will go down in history as an era of an

explosion of the ideals of liberty and progress such as had

not been seen since the great wave of independence in the

1960s.

These gains, together with the dizzying advances of

science and technology, attest to mankind’s extraordinary

ability to come up with imaginative answers. However,

mankind has not yet freed itself from feelings of

indifference and exclusion, and often even of hate. This is

perhaps the major challenge as this century comes to a

close.

The complete achievement of the noble objectives of

the Charter would doubtless represent a decisive step

towards such emancipation.