El Salvador, 1996

I should like to extend to the President

and to all the delegations of Member States the cordial

greetings of the people and Government of El Salvador.

I should also like to congratulate the President on his

election to preside over this session and to express thanks

to Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral for the dedication with

which he carried out his mandate. At this session, we

must adopt very important decisions designed to

strengthen the Organization. We are convinced that the

President’s pragmatism and experience will help our

debate to take a proper course, overcome obstacles and

give impetus to the reforms called for by Member States.

In October 1995 we celebrated the golden

anniversary of the United Nations, an occasion that

afforded us an opportunity to assess the work of the

Organization, to recognize the importance of this

institution in deepening understanding among nations and

to ensure that its purposes and principles remain fully in

effect. At that time, world leaders agreed to support the

implementation of the reform needed to ensure that the

international community would indeed have an effective

Organization able to meet the requirements presented by

a constantly changing world.

In the light of that commitment, we believe that at

this session debate should avoid unnecessary

confrontation and be focused on the formulation of

practical recommendations to ensure that the joint efforts

of Member States will be in accordance with the

Declaration adopted at the fiftieth anniversary. In so

doing, important decisions can be taken that will give the

Organization the capabilities and resources to meet the

challenges of the new millennium effectively.

The dynamics of the international system in recent

years lead us to an even greater appreciation of the

various initiatives that have been discussed with regard to

the common problems that affect us all. In solving them,

we must act together and share the successful experiences

of each individual State in order to improve the standard

of living of all our peoples.

We commend the successful convening of summits,

at which programmes of action on global problems

relating to women, children, human rights, the

environment, social development, population and human

settlements have been adopted. These conferences are a

clear demonstration of the political will and the moral

commitment of the international community to redefine

the paradigms for sustainable development by means of

19

rekindled creativity focused on the individual as well as the

family.

The complexity and interdependency of our problems

oblige each and every Member State to redouble their

efforts to participate more actively in finding solutions.

Such solutions must emerge from a new vision of the

current international situation, characterized by increasingly

globalized economies and requiring greater efficiency and

competitiveness in the productive sectors in order

successfully to confront higher levels of competition.

Despite the positive elements of this picture, we must

not confound joint efforts with the principal responsibility

that each and every government bears in solving the

problems affecting its own society.

In the global political situation, we note with

satisfaction that progress has been made in participatory

democracy throughout the world. This is one of the most

important phenomena at the end of this century, as it

enables individuals to participate directly and creatively in

solving their own problems.

We are convinced that United Nations efforts to

resolve and contain conflicts by means of peacekeeping

operations are beneficial to the achievement of world

harmony. In addition to having benefited from this process,

El Salvador has been an active party to it.

Our country’s experience in effectively settling its

recent armed conflict can help other countries dealing with

similar situations. This makes it possible for us to share our

knowledge and experience with the international

community, to contribute to solving such conflicts by

means of dialogue and common work, leading to the

consolidation of peace, democracy and respect for human

rights.

We have said that there has been a sea change in the

international system, but conflicts and problems remain. At

this time, we wish to encourage their resolution in an

atmosphere of cooperation, dialogue and negotiation by

means of frank and objective discussion.

In recent years, 25 new States have exercised their

sovereign right to self-determination and become Members

of the United Nations, thereby reaffirming the

Organization’s principle of universality. Unfortunately this

principle has not been fully respected and will not be fully

respected until all States, including the Republic of China

in Taiwan, are represented in the United Nations.

The creation of jobs, the rule of law, the security of

citizens, access to proper housing, health, education,

medical care and nutrition for children, and a clean and

life-sustaining environment are all requirements that

deserve priority. If at the United Nations we can

formulate policies and carry out innovative, effective

activities in this connection, people throughout the world,

particularly the most dispossessed, can benefit from this

important step forward in solving their problems. This is

the only way the Organization can truly make a creative

and effective contribution to ensuring that democracy is

perceived as a positive process for humankind.

The financial problems of our Organization are an

obstacle to the proper functioning of its programmes and

activities, especially those in less developed countries.

The needs of development require that the United Nations

function more transparently, effectively and, above all,

efficiently. For this, our beliefs and our actions must be

consistent.

The new vision that is emerging in the international

system can be explained by the domestic transformations

taking place in many countries throughout the world.

Central America is a part of this process. Allow me to

describe the current experiences of our region. A few

years before the start of the new millennium, the Central

American countries have left behind our sad history of

confrontation and have embarked upon the path to peace,

freedom, democracy and development, as shaped by the

Central American Presidents in our Alliance for the

Sustainable Development of Central America. This

Alliance comprises policies, programmes and activities

that provide a new system for integral development and

are creating progressive change in living standards by

ensuring economic growth with social equity, and

development that is in harmony with nature, thus ensuring

that future generations will have a high quality of life.

The Central American Presidents also adopted a

series of commitments to work together to meet the

objectives of the Alliance for Sustainable Development.

In political terms, these include strengthening and

consolidating the rule of law and democratic security as

well as modernizing the public sector; in economic terms,

improving economic integration, harmonizing

macroeconomic policies and modernizing regional

infrastructures; in the social sphere, systematically

reducing poverty, emphasizing job-creation and

investment in human capital, giving priority to eduction,

health and training; in the cultural area, ensuring the

preservation of the values and traditions of the cultural

20

heritage of the Central American peoples; and in

environmental terms, preserving and protecting the bio-

diversity of the region, promoting reforestation and the

appropriate utilization of water catchment areas, biological

corridors and protected areas.

In El Salvador, barely four years after the signature of

the peace accords, we are pleased to note that we have

come close to full implementation of the commitments

entered into at the time and are moving strongly towards

establishing democratic institutions and national

reconstruction. Our peace process has been held up as an

example, and we are pleased to serve as a model and an

encouragement to ensure that situations similar to ours can

be solved in other areas of the world. After having solved

a prolonged domestic conflict by political means, we

Salvadorans have many challenges before us which can be

summed up in a few words: the achievement of a lasting,

stable and modern democracy based on the rule of law that

will enable us to achieve social peace and the building of

a new El Salvador.

For these reasons, we are determined to expedite

actions aimed at satisfying the deepest aspirations of our

people: worthwhile and well-paid work; a participatory

education stressing the creation of a culture of peace based

on civic and moral values; a health system that is not only

curative but preventive; the promotion of micro-enterprises

and small businesses; full respect for and promotion of

human rights, including special emphasis on the rights of

women and children; the restoration and preservation of our

environment; strengthening the rule of law; and the

consolidation of a true system of civil liberties. On this

basis, the Salvadoran people will be able to put all of their

talents and efforts into achieving the sustainable and

integral development of society.

We believe that human and economic development are

two sides of the same coin, and mutually dependent.

Greater human development makes possible conditions

under which economic development can increase, which in

turn produces increased resources to stimulate human

development.

Accordingly, the Government of President Armando

Calderón Sol is carrying out reforms that will allow for the

creation of a country replete with opportunities for all

Salvadorans, thereby breaking the vicious circle of poverty

in which those born poor are condemned to die poor.

This objective can be achieved as long as we, as a

nation, have a single vision that goes beyond different

ideological or political circumstances. The great task

facing this generation in El Salvador is to recognize that

society is a whole and to ensure that all the force of

history is brought to bear in order to find solutions that

benefit the entire population.

The people and Government of El Salvador wish to

reaffirm their recognition of the contribution made by the

Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, his

representatives and the agencies of the United Nations

system, to the consolidation of peace, democracy and

reconstruction in our country. We would like also to

thank the international community for its material,

technical and financial support to complement the efforts

of the Salvadoran people to achieve peace and sustainable

development, which has enabled us to begin a process of

modernization, so as to meet successfully the challenges

of the twenty-first century.

In conclusion, we would like to express our absolute

confidence that, at the conclusion of the fifty-first session

of the General Assembly, the peoples of the world who

are represented here will have reached a greater level of

understanding, trust and cooperation, enabling them to

deal together with the problems affecting the international

community.