Chad, 1996

First of all, I would like to congratulate you, Sir, on behalf

of my delegation, upon your election to the presidency of

the General Assembly at this session. Your selection is not

only a recognition of the contributions of your country,

Malaysia, in the defence of the ideals of the United Nations

but is also a confirmation of your talents as an experienced

diplomat.

Allow me also to express my thanks to your

predecessor, Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral, for his masterful

guidance of the historic commemorative session of the

fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations.

I would like to pay once again a well-deserved tribute

to our Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and

to reiterate our support for his constant efforts on behalf of

peace and development.

May I also transmit to our Assembly the message of

hope and the wishes for success of the President of the

Republic of Chad, General Idriss Deby.

The life of a nation is often stamped by events

written in golden letters in the great book of their history.

1996 is going to be one of those pivotal years along the

road to democracy in Chad. Indeed, at preceding sessions,

Chadian delegations regularly informed our Assembly of

the substantial progress achieved in this area. I can affirm

to you today that the process is ongoing, is getting

stronger and becoming day by day an irreversible reality.

I offer as proof the two major elections that took place

peacefully and quietly.

First, last March, the people of Chad gained a

Constitution that then gave them the opportunity to elect

freely and democratically for the first time in their

history, with direct universal suffrage, a President of the

Republic from among 15 candidates. Yes, after two hard-

fought rounds of voting the people of Chad chose

President Idriss Deby, who was officially inaugurated as

President of the Republic of Chad on 8 August 1996 for

a term of five years.

Nonetheless, the process is still under way. Before

the end of the year the people of Chad will be called

upon to elect their representatives to the future national

assembly. The parliamentary election will bring to a close

the first phase in the establishment of the institutions

called for by the Constitution.

Numerous international observers were present in

our country during the elections. They observed that the

elections took place properly and that the Chadians

showed discipline and political maturity. The organization

of the elections would not have been possible without the

contributions of Chad’s traditional friends, most notably,

France, the United Nations system and international and

non-governmental organizations. This contribution

supplemented the efforts of the Government of Chad

itself, which, despite its serious economic and financial

constraints, assumed a part of the financing of the

operations. Here we wish to thank all those whose

multifaceted support and assistance made it possible to

achieve these happy results. I take this opportunity to

again appeal urgently to the international community to

support Chad in the organization of future elections, in

particular the legislative elections scheduled for next

December.

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It is often said that there can be no lasting economic

development without democracy. The latter, as we all

know, is a long, evolving process. Thus, slowly, patiently,

at its own pace and in the light of its own realities, Chad is

providing itself with the democratic institutions that must

support its socio-economic development efforts, which is

the highest priority of the programme of action of the

Government of Chad.

Thus, like a host of other countries, Chad has

developed, in collaboration with the Bretton Woods

institutions, a structural adjustment programme. It has also

just negotiated and concluded with the Paris Club of

Industrial Country Creditors a partial deferment and

rescheduling of its public debt. These actions are designed

to control Government expenditure and ultimately to reduce

the current budget deficit. The main goal is to arrive at a

surplus which would allow Chad to build the basic

infrastructures which are essential to the promotion and

development of economic activities. The Government of

Chad is also re-energizing its private sector, which

generates employment, privatizing State enterprises and

vigorously reforming tax-collection services and economic

development programmes.

Another concern of my Government is the constant

quest for peace and security. As the Assembly knows, war

has stalked my country for more than two decades, which

has completely undermined its structures. This is why we

must work to restore peace and security, which inevitably

involves regaining control of the army. I can affirm to the

Assembly that efforts have been made and are continuing

to this end. Thanks to friendly countries and the World

Bank, more than 21,000 soldiers have been demobilized, an

operation which will continue. However, our demobilization

efforts will be in vain if this means putting out onto the

street men who know how to handle weapons and are

capable of causing unrest and insecurity. This is why a

programme to reintegrate them into society must be

implemented immediately. Only then will the reform

programme succeed and ensure that we have a disciplined

army, a true melting pot of the nation, at the service of

development: this is our ambition.

The aftermath of war must be overcome, and at the

top of our list of priorities is to de-mine an area equivalent

to one quarter of our national territory. The mines planted

during the occupation of part of our country continue

indiscriminately to kill and mutilate civilians, women and

children in particular. This is an alarming situation because

it hinders any development programme in a region which,

nonetheless, has enormous potential for mining and tourism.

It goes without saying that national rehabilitation

cannot succeed, once again, without the assistance of the

international community.

As far as my country is concerned, and despite the

problems I have just mentioned, Chad is resolutely

determined to work for sustainable socio-economic

development. The people of Chad, in an atmosphere of

peace and freedom, decided to unite for the sake of their

own development. To this end, we would like to see

increasing external assistance, so designed to help us to

reach the point where we no longer need such assistance.

Help us to develop, so that we do not become too great

a burden on the countries represented here. That is our

message to the developed countries.

The international situation is also of concern to us.

Chad is not alone in the world, and what happens in that

world, even if it is beyond us and if matters are settled

outside Chad, concerns us all the same. The rampant

crises in various parts of the world raise the question of

what became of the hopes that were raised by the end of

the cold war. We in Africa applaud the progress towards

restoring peace and security in countries such as

Mozambique, Angola and Liberia. But these achievements

have to be consolidated. We can do this if we mobilize

ourselves and shoulder our responsibilities.

We deplore the situation of latent war in Somalia

and the Great Lakes region. Genuine efforts should be

made by the international community; the parties involved

also need to show political will to end their fratricidal

confrontations.

The challenge is the same in Bosnia and

Herzegovina, where implementation of the Dayton Peace

Agreement must be vigorously supported so that a

permanent peace can be established in that part of the

world.

In the Middle East, the peace process which began

with Israeli and Palestinian reconciliation seems to have

been thrown into question in the light of events in recent

weeks. We pay tribute to the very recent diplomatic

initiatives to try and restore dialogue between the

different parties, despite the lukewarm results. Chad

exhorts them to respect their commitments to avoid a new

flare-up in the region.

My country fully endorses the numerous efforts

made with regard to disarmament. Thus we welcomed

with satisfaction the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone

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Treaty signed in Cairo, the non-aggression pact in Central

Africa signed in Yaoundé and the adoption here in New

York of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty,

which Chad signed this very morning.

Similarly, faced with the horror caused by mines,

those deadly devices, Chad welcomes the initiatives taken

to eliminate them. Consequently, we are prepared to

support any measure to that end.

The 1990s will have been devoted to attempts to find

global solutions to the serious economic, social and

environmental problems facing part of humankind. Chad, as

a Sahelian country, welcomes the entry into force of the

Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries

Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification,

particularly in Africa and hopes to see rapid implementation

of its provisions.

We also hope that the forthcoming World Food

Summit will meet expectations in terms of food security

and water management, issues which give rise to often

deadly conflict. Moreover, we should meet the new

challenges facing the world: drugs, organized crime,

pandemics, terrorism and religious intolerance. Increased

international cooperation seems essential if we are to

eliminate these scourges which Governments cannot deal

with individually.

Here, I would like to congratulate the United Nations

Children’s Fund for its actions on behalf of children, in

particular its vaccination programmes, including the

programme to eradicate poliomyelitis before the year 2000.

We also encourage the World Health Organization to step

up its efforts to contain and eliminate the modern

pandemic, AIDS.

The fiftieth anniversary of our Organization provided

an opportunity for the international community to think

about the future, reform and how to re-energize the United

Nations.

But, like all human activities, only by making all this

a reality will our Organization be able to achieve the ideals

of peace, security and well-being laid down in the Charter

and to which our peoples aspire.

I cannot conclude without joining with many

preceding speakers in paying tribute to the immense work

done over the last four years by our Secretary-General,

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali. His action on all fronts, and the

availability, willingness and courage of the Secretary-

General have enabled our Organization to foresee and

resolve many conflicts. In that connection, I want to make

it very clear that our country, Chad, will support the

Secretary-General without reservation.