Djibouti, 1996

My delegation offers its

warmest congratulations to you, Sir, on your election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at what will certainly

be a crucial session. We have come to know you over the

years, and have never failed to admire and appreciate your

relentless activism, plain-speaking and valuable

contributions. We have no doubt that your unique

experience, coupled with your keen awareness of the issues

on which we will have to deliberate, augur well for a most

productive session.

We also wish to record our gratitude to Mr. Freitas do

Amaral, the outgoing President, for his direction and

focused leadership during the historic fiftieth anniversary

session. Much of the pace and progress in United Nations

reform efforts and activities this year are largely due to his

commitment to achieving a meaningful and balanced

outcome on this difficult issue.

We would also like to commend the Secretary-

General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for the perseverance

and dedication with which he has undertaken his duties.

Saddled as it is with diminishing resources and increasing

uncertainty regarding its role and mandate, the United

Nations is going through trying times. The Secretary-

General, however, has, against all odds, maintained the

continuity and functioning of the Secretariat, tackling the

daily challenges facing mankind.

My delegation, in conformity with the decision and

recommendation of the League of Arab States and the

Organization of African Unity, supports the re-election

bid of the Secretary-General for another term in order to

enable him to accomplish the objectives of his mission.

Fifty years ago, with great energy, grand vision and

a considerable measure of optimism, the world embarked

upon a high-minded journey to end the scourge of war,

eliminate poverty and create a world of freedom and

justice for all. Much has been accomplished, and it cannot

be denied that humankind now has the power and

resources to achieve the goals we set ourselves.

Yet too many dreams remain shattered, too much

potential remains unfulfilled, and too many conflicts

remain in too many parts of the globe. The United

Nations is bracing itself for more turbulent times ahead,

with bankruptcy on the horizon as it confronts the threat

to either “reform or perish”. Remarkably, there is a placid

air of “business as usual” pervading this session of the

General Assembly — a dream state in which all is well

and normal. Given the dire predicament threatening the

existence of this Organization, does this reveal a measure

of resignation? Is this the beginning of the end of the

enthusiastic hope for a new world order with which this

decade began? Does this explain why so many opportunities

to address the pressing problems of our day have not been

realized? While politically the world might be in a state of

flux and transition, economically, however, it has enjoyed

an unprecedented level of output — enough for every man,

woman and child on this planet to enjoy a happy and secure

life.

The vast majority of the people of the world, however,

have received minimal benefit. The facts are foreboding.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

informs us that over the last decade income levels in some

70 developing countries were lower than in the 1960s or

1970s. The Administrator of the United Nations

Development Programme tellingly reminds us that the

belief that the developing world is doing very much better

is one of the great myths of the present. In fact, three fifths

of the world’s population live in poverty, millions are

forced to migrate every year, and 15 per cent suffer from

chronic hunger and malnutrition. All this is taking place

while world food production and reserves are declining in

the face of population growth. As most of us realize, much

of this stagnation is taking place in Africa.

For all the oft-cited reasons — historical, colonial or

contemporary — Africa has been lagging behind on the

march to self-sustaining growth. Consequently, 50 per cent

of its peoples live in poverty, with a quality of life that is

not expected to improve during this decade. While the

increasing flow of negative statistics on Africa tends to

mask the substantial efforts for reform, pluralization and

structural adjustment that are taking place in many countries

on the continent, for most people the situation is life-

threatening.

There are, however, a few hopeful signs that the

extent of Africa’s predicament has begun to draw the

critical attention it needs from the international community.

In particular, the 10-year United Nations System-wide

Special Initiative on Africa, launched in March by the

Secretary-General, deserves a special mention. Although it

does not represent new funding so much as the more

efficient use of available resources, it should prove useful.

Together with this initiative, the formal endorsement

last week by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and

the World Bank, during their annual meeting in

Washington, of a plan to substantially reduce the debt

burden of the world’s poorest and most heavily indebted

nations, most of which are in Africa, is very encouraging.

If current economic reform measures are to have the

desired impact, debt relief is crucial, particularly in

reversing Africa’s increasing marginalization.

But problems of degradation, poverty and

underdevelopment are hardly unique to Africa; they are

found in every corner of the world, and must be seriously

addressed if we are to rectify the frightening pace of

global polarization, both within and between countries.

According to the Administrator of the United Nations

Development Programme, we are creating a planet that,

increasingly, is not one world but two.

For all these reasons, the World Food Summit in

Rome next month, and the designation of the decade

1997-2006 as the first United Nations Decade for the

Eradication of Poverty will provide the international

community with an opportunity to renew its commitment

realistically to face those twin scourges of humankind.

The conventional wisdom of today argues that the basic

remedy for underdevelopment lies in embracing free and

open market economies, stimulated by private capital. To

this end, the bulk of the world is engaged in restructuring

to fit this mould. But with the dramatic shrinkage of the

resources needed for transitional development —

particularly those for official development assistance —

self-sufficiency has become an almost impossible task.

Compounding this dilemma, total private investment has

quadrupled since 1990, but only in ways that bypass most

developing countries and fail to address their problems.

The world remains laden with conflicts. It has been

said that as many as 25 complex emergencies now

threaten tens of millions of people worldwide every year,

that the convulsions are becoming larger, with wider

repercussions, and that this new generation of crises will

continue until their underlying causes are properly

addressed. Cold-war identities have lost relevance, and

old identities and animosities have resurfaced. Many

nation States have lost considerable cohesion and are

being buffeted by external pressures and strains within.

The consequent void of economic and political instability

has provided an opening for many unscrupulous, self-

proclaimed “leaders” who, hungry for power, are

reigniting the myths, latent prejudices, hatreds and fears

lying in the dark recesses of so many minds. Employing

violence, propaganda and intimidation, such as we have

seen in Bosnia, Somalia, Cambodia and elsewhere, they

have successfully pitted peoples against peoples. The

predictable result has been an explosion in the number of

armed conflicts, accompanied by widespread devastation,

both human and physical, gross violations of human

rights, and “ethnic cleansing”. This is a situation

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increasingly in need of concerted international action and a

strong, focused and impartial United Nations.

The United Nations has, indeed, responded positively

in many instances. Cambodia and Mozambique are cases in

point. Some crises, however, have proved intractable,

invariably because of the nature of mandates or the political

will of Member States, whose changing views and policies

have affected the prospects for early resolution. Had the

international community acted with dispatch in crisis

situations, countless lives could have been saved and scarce

resources conserved by forcing the belligerents to disarm

unconditionally and to respect the rule of law.

The widespread and indiscriminate use of anti-

personnel mines in many conflict situations has been

consistently devastating. We therefore welcome the Security

Council statement of 30 August 1996 indicating the high

priority being given to demining. The effectiveness of

peacekeeping will be greatly enhanced by making demining

an integral part of it. Sadly, however, these commendable

measures will continue to fall short of what is required

unless the international community imposes a moratorium,

if not a total ban, on the manufacture and deployment of

such devices. In the same vein, we hope that the adoption

of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty will provide

an impetus to increased international cooperation, in

addition to marking a first viable step towards the total

elimination of weapons of mass destruction.

The problems, conflicts and challenges of development

and international cooperation are growing in complexity.

Not surprisingly, therefore, as so many have noted, the

United Nations system needs to be renewed and enabled to

respond to these simultaneous challenges.

Over the past two years, and particularly in the first

half of this year, a number of High-level Open-ended

Working Groups of the General Assembly have extensively

explored and deliberated on issues of reform as they

impinge upon the financial situation, the enlargement,

composition and transparency of the Security Council, and

the Secretariat and General Assembly. Considerable time,

energy and resources have been expended in these efforts.

However, differences persist among nations, reflecting

divergent national policies, views and interests.

As might be expected, a proliferation of ideas and

positions is emerging from individual countries, including,

to name just a few, the United States, Italy, Belize and

Malaysia, which have produced proposals and statements of

position. Regional groups, including those in Africa, and

alliances and coalitions, including the Non-Aligned

Movement, have their own positions. All of them are

jockeying for position so as to advance and strengthen

their individual or collective interests. The stalemate over

Security Council reform is far from over and remains the

toughest problem. The real stumbling block is the number

and composition of the new permanent membership,

which must include developing countries from all parts of

the world, including Africa, Asia and Latin America. We

must also recognize that constructive participation in the

Council by many smaller States has demonstrated that the

possession of large economies and large populations

cannot be the exclusive criteria for permanent

membership.

The tense circumstances persisting in a number of

States in the Great Lakes region of Africa is a cause of

concern to my country. This is true of Rwanda, where

bloated prisons, camps swollen with refugees and the

slow pace of the judicial process are just a few of the

problems that continue to plague that country. The

International Tribunal for Rwanda has begun to function,

but with limited manpower and financial resources. The

Tribunal must be seen to function effectively, as the

message it sends is crucial to resolving the Rwandan

problem.

In neighbouring Burundi, the international

community remains haunted by the fear of a re-enactment

of the horrors that took place in Rwanda over two years

ago, where tens of thousands were massacred. There has

already been a frightful human toll in Burundi since the

army murdered the first democratically elected President

in 1993, marking the advent of instability and violence.

Should the army — the de facto head of State and

supreme authority since 1993 — remain unprepared to

accept the authority of a democratically elected civilian

government, we may have a recipe for uncontrolled

bloodshed. That is the real problem confronting the

international community in resolving the Burundi debacle.

Djibouti fully supports the efforts of the countries in the

region in imposing sanctions, whose objective is to

compel the new regime in Bujumbura to restore

constitutional order and legality and to hand over power

to a legitimately elected government.

With the explosion of violence in the territories

occupied by Israel, we have witnessed an alarming

deterioration in prospects for peace in the Middle East.

The Israeli act of opening a tunnel under one of Islam’s

holiest shrines, the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem,

was yet another example of disrespect for, as well as

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defiance of, international opinion. But more importantly, it

was yet another example of intransigent rule over East

Jerusalem.

It is difficult to deny that the ultimate Israeli aim is to

change the ground rules — in effect, unilaterally to redefine

the peace process, thereby rolling back the clock and

reversing years of hard work, concessions, sacrifice and

good faith on the part of the previous Israeli Government,

the Palestinians, the Arabs, and the international

community. It is also disturbing that, while the world is

watching, Israel should decide openly to pursue a policy of

creating “facts on the ground” in total disregard of the

principles established in Oslo, the Washington peace

agreement and United Nations resolutions, all of which

emphasize the return of occupied land in exchange for

peace. It is little wonder that the current talks between

Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Arafat, which began last week in

Washington, have neither produced nor resolved anything.

What we see instead are Israeli promises or commitments

to keep talking to the Palestinians. But there has been

neither an action nor a promise to implement what had

already been agreed upon, or even to contemplate the start

of final status negotiations.

The depth of Arab disillusionment is obvious. The

hard line policies pursued by the new Government are

simply fuelling fires of hatred and violence. Djibouti hopes

that reason will prevail, and calls on key countries and

regions to continue providing the necessary direction,

leadership and reassurances for a return to previous

commitments. Having come so far and sacrificed so much,

and with so much at stake, we must not allow the peace

process to drift or wither away. In this context, we also

wish to underscore the urgent call of the Arab Summit in

Cairo in June for Israel to resume the peace process within

the framework of the Madrid Conference, in accordance

with Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973)

and 425 (1978).

We share the anxiety in the Gulf region about the state

of the three islands of the United Arab Emirates that have

been occupied by Iran, and we hope that this long-standing

problem will be resolved peacefully.

Somalia continues to exist in a cycle of misery and

political impasse, lacking structures, an economy, a stable

civil society or legitimate authority. More disturbing, there

is neither peace nor war, and clashes continue unabated.

Mogadishu and its infamous warlords remain the maelstrom

of Somalia. Despite almost five years of incessant fighting,

there are no signs of compromise or reconciliation. The lust

for power of a few has resulted in disaster for the whole

country, whose condition is now a virtual replica of what

it was in the nineteenth century. There is simply nowhere

to lay the blame for Somalia’s wretched state except on

the warlords and their inability to reason and reach

agreement. This myopic vision of leadership seems

unlikely to change until one faction prevails, and that may

take years. Meanwhile, the people suffer, and the world

is watching. Somalia, we must conclude, remains a

festering tragedy, a piece of unfinished business for the

international community, an international embarrassment,

and a permanent problem. It will not go away simply

because we refuse to address it, and it will certainly

continue to be an indelible blemish on the Charter of the

United Nations.

The sooner we consider the far-reaching implications

of the situation of this failed State, which is absent from

this Hall, the better it will be for the Somali people and

the international community. Somalia is simply consumed

by an interminable turmoil from which it cannot free

itself. It needs help — our help.

With the holding of elections, the saga of Bosnia has

reached a decisive juncture. The problem facing the

international community is the attempts to obstruct the

normalization process through the use of violence and

intimidation, which increase the pressure for secession.

However, one issue that is creating tremendous frustration

and confusion is the reluctance of the North Atlantic

Treaty Organization (NATO) to apprehend the prime

Bosnian Serb war crime suspects — Karadžic´ and

Mladic´ — who are accused of instigating, planning and

ordering the genocide and “ethnic cleansing” in Bosnia.

To date, 74 arrest warrants have been issued for suspected

war criminals, but only eight people are in custody. This

fact, perhaps, reflects a political decision; but it is a

paradoxical one whose effects may be with us in Bosnia

and beyond for a long time.

In conclusion, I wish to refer to an issue relating to

my own part of the world. Our corner of the globe, the

Horn of Africa, seems to be passing through a period of

renewed optimism and revival. This must be sustained.

With the regional economy slowly but steadily recovering

from the effects of past turmoil, the need for enhanced

cooperation cannot be overemphasized. Djibouti is

umbilically linked to the pulse of its neighbours and

cannot, therefore, be indifferent to their economic and

trade realities.

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The conflicts and civil strife that have plagued the

Horn of Africa in the past two decades have had a

devastating effect on our economic and social life. This can

be readily observed in the unacceptable number of

displaced persons and refugees in my small country, for

whom our continued commitment to care is proving to be

economically and socially overwhelming, if not disastrous.

Djibouti’s approach to regional affairs is based on

mutual respect, moderation and cooperation. We believe

that all the countries in the Horn of Africa must together

seek to resolve the common problems of poverty, conflict

and underdevelopment, bilaterally and within the framework

of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Drought and

Development (IGADD), whose revitalization is crucial.

Djibouti is in the midst of economic restructuring and

institutional reforms. Given the demobilization process that

is now under way, we require generous assistance from the

international donor community. Towards this end, we are

planning to organize a round table early next year, under

the aegis of the UNDP and the Bretton Woods institutions,

to address these problems and the accumulated effects of

regional instability. We have made a valiant effort, and we

remain convinced that the donor community will, for its

part, work with us in order to surmount our multiple

challenges and create a better future for our citizens.