Equatorial Guinea, 1999

At the outset, we would like to congratulate you,

Mr. President, on your outstanding election to guide our

work during the fifty-fourth session of the United Nations

General Assembly and, through you, to pay a well-deserved

tribute to your country, the Republic of Namibia. My

country subscribes to the generally held view that your

well-known diplomatic skills and broad experience will

contribute to the success of our work.

We also warmly congratulate the new Member States,

Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga, on their admission to the great

family of the United Nations. This is a great victory for the

principles of free expression and self-determination of

peoples and nations. That is the only way to enrich the

democratic nature of the United Nations with the diversity

and universality of mankind.

It is with optimism and hope that we participate in

this session of the General Assembly. We reaffirm our

full commitment to the purposes and principles that were

the basis for the establishment of the world Organization.

We believe that its more than 50 years of existence,

which have made their mark on the twentieth century and

have helped bring about great social, political, economic

and technological changes, constitute a positive legacy for

the future of mankind.

We have high hopes for this session because those

long years of experience and the fact that we are about to

enter the third millennium mean that we can talk of a

United Nations jubilee for the new era, in which mankind

should fully benefit from our achievement of the goals

and ideals of a world of peace, free from war and

conflict. We want all men and women to be able to enjoy

their most inalienable rights — to freedom, dignity and

equality — and we want all the world's nations and

peoples to live in justice and equity. Ultimately, we want

all human beings, without distinction and without

discrimination, to enjoy the benefits of economic, social

and cultural progress.

But in spite of these long years of history, the end

of the cold war, our long experience and the many events

that have taken place in this half-century process —

advances in the new technologies of space exploration,

atomic science, remote sensing and other progress that is of

incalculable value for the future of mankind — we note

with concern that we have yet to guarantee peace and

security for all nations.

That is why we must adopt strategies and measures

that will enable developing countries to take advantage of

their opportunities for progress and that will make it

possible for all people to enjoy the best possible living

conditions on this, our home planet. We must make sure

that, as our common heritage, education, science and

technology reach all people so that human development can

enable them to enjoy their rights to dignity and

responsibility. We must examine our consciences and

understand that it is we ourselves who are slowing the

advance of human progress.

The desire for power and world hegemony,

exacerbated by extremism, ethnic and racial discrimination

and intolerance and fanaticism born of political beliefs and

theories, has created a climate of war, terror and insecurity

in many parts of the world and could unleash a new world

confrontation. The most striking examples of this may be

seen in the situations in the Persian Gulf, the Balkans, the

Middle East, Africa and Latin America, as well as in the

recent escalation of violence in South-East Asia.

Moreover, despite the demands of third-world

countries and the attempts to establish a new world

economic order that would be more just and equitable for

all, the present unjust economic system continues to prevail,

impeding trade between the North and the South. We must

realize that the economic situation is an irreplaceable

element of the balance of domestic and international peace

and security: peace does not mean the mere absence of

hostilities; it is a state of perfect harmony in human life in

the economic, social, cultural and moral spheres. For Africa

and for the Africans, political idealism can flourish only if

it is attended by concrete action that will guarantee human

survival and justify the aims of that idealism. Let us not

forget that political idealism of any kind is based on a

culture appropriate to the population in question. Here,

human beings are the raw material, and the proper

conditions must be present for the success of that kind of

ideal political system. Hence, so long as the peoples of

Africa suffer from hunger, poverty, war and pandemic

disease, and so long as they are overwhelmed by cultural

deficiencies, ignorance and illiteracy, efforts to democratize

their States and ensure peace will always fail.

It is said that an empty sack cannot stand by itself.

Africa needs economic inputs, technology transfer for

development, and recognition of its cultural and moral

values, so that internecine struggle will cease and so that

democracy and political theories will be employed in the

most objective way.

That is why Central African heads of States

members of the Economic Commission of Central African

States and of the Central African Economic and Monetary

Commission, meeting at Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, from

23 to 26 June 1999, carefully studied all these factors and

adopted, inter alia, strategies to prevent conflict in the

region. They decided to establish a subregional

parliament, a peacekeeping force and an institute for the

promotion and defence of human rights. We hope that the

United Nations will support these decisions.

The reality is that in Africa there is strong pressure

from underdevelopment, poverty, unemployment and

illiteracy which justifies the flight of intellectuals and the

current exodus of Africans to developed countries in

search of a livelihood. Accordingly, we call for United

Nations support for the decision adopted in Algeria by the

heads of State of Africa to increase humanitarian support

for the millions of African refugees, to amounts

comparable to those given other regions.

This is also for me a favourable opportunity to

reaffirm our solidarity with the political will and the

determination of the African States to speed up the

mechanisms for integration and unity, to meet the

challenges of globalization in order to ensure global

development for mankind. In order for political and

democratic systems to succeed in Africa, the economy

and economic culture should have a key role among the

elements that go along with them, for otherwise they

would develop without any objective basis.

Unfortunately, we find that currently there is no firm

political will for cooperation between the North and

South, as there was in the past. In fact, now there is just

a clash of various selfish interests in which the strongest

or the richest always win.

At this time we recall the great projects of economic

cooperation in post-war Europe which enlivened Europe,

South-East Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Attempts of the same kind have been sought for Africa

with the construction of considerable infrastructure to help

the peoples of this continent: for example, the Aswan

dam in Egypt, hydroelectric power stations on the Volta

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River in Ghana, in Inga in the Democratic Republic of the

Congo and in Mombasa in Tanzania. Unfortunately, this

political will to aid the development of the continent has

not continued.

This, then, is the high price for the independence of

African nations. The political development of the continent

is now confronted with a number of difficulties and

challenges.

First is the need to establish sincere industrial

cooperation with developed countries, instead of the present

merciless extraction of natural resources and their

exportation as raw materials, with no compensatory

exchange for technologies to process them.

Secondly, there is need to achieve fair prices in the

exchange of natural resources for manufactured goods, as

prices have not gone up more than 25 per cent since

independence.

A third challenge is that credit is given under

conditions that do not allow the population to satisfy its

needs nor to profit from corresponding investments, the

debt for which is mortgaging the economy.

Fourth, conditions are imposed on cooperation using

political criteria that do not take into account the reality of

African societies, as well as another series of conditions

that funnel the benefits of the current international

economic system to a powerful few.

Nonetheless, we recognize and are grateful for the

decision by the seven major industrialized countries to retire

the debt of developing countries. We cherish the hope this

political will may spread to all donor countries and that its

application will not be according to selective and

exclusionary criteria.

Praiseworthy in the same way is the initiative by the

Administration of the President of the United States of

America to increase American investment in Africa, an

initiative which we hope will be a second Marshall Plan for

the African continent.

Certainly, the consequences of selfishness and of

unfair distribution of available resources have created, in

the developed as much as in the developing countries,

frustrated groups of people who today are a cause of

political and social instability in many parts of the world.

With respect to human resources, we must analyze

in depth the causes of the current juvenile delinquency,

organized crime, rape, kidnappings and indiscriminate

killings, drug addiction and drug trafficking, alcoholism,

prostitution, money laundering, counterfeiting, terrorism

and corruption which exist at all social levels everywhere.

All these practices challenge us and compromise the

future of humanity.

Our concern is that these behaviours make up our

legacy for the generations of the third millennium. Does

the new epoch to which we aspire beginning in the year

2000 presuppose the rise of some and the regression to

poverty and misery of others? Can international peace and

security guarantee protection only for some, denying it to

others?

Equatorial Guinea does not aspire to hegemony or

power, yet we speak here with the conviction of the

obligation that falls to us as a member of this democratic

international community to ask for what is best for

mankind.

Socio-political development and technological

advances tell us that we are in a different galaxy from

that of earlier times. The United Nations is the only

Organization that has exercised leadership in the process

of the world's development. Yet after 54 years, we must

realize that the terms of reference of the world's current

socio-political reality are not those in effect in 1945. It is

clear that the United Nations is similarly undergoing

changes which correspond to this moment in history, in

social philosophy, mechanisms, structure and action.

Today we talk of democracy as the only way to

promote the development of peoples, ensure peace and

guarantee respect for human dignity. Today we talk of

globalizing world politics and policies and of the

governance of States because the concept of social

development finds its justification only in the values of

the individual. The United Nations should therefore take

no action that is not in keeping with those values and is

not a faithful expression of this interdependent, unipolar

world that calls for unified criteria. We must make a

special effort to help young people so that they can carry

on the positive values of humankind for the sake of a

more integrated, more developed, more just and more

equitable world.

The ideal of any governments must be to seek peace,

progress and prosperity for its peoples. In this connection,

the efforts of the countries that are fighting to

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democratize their societies be properly appreciated and

supported by countries with longer democratic experience.

It has been proved that penalizing governments and peoples

is counterproductive and makes them unable to promote

national development however much they want to. The

United Nations ought to assist these countries closely in

their economic, social, technical and cultural advancement,

in keeping with the spirit of globalization and the actual

situation in each country.

We believe that the current United Nations system is

obsolete in terms both of decision-making and of the

effectiveness of its actions when it comes to dealing

properly with the difficulties and challenges facing its

members. Indeed, the proliferation of peacekeeping

operations in various parts of the world is proof that the

current conflict-prevention system is obsolete.

As an organization founded on democracy, the United

Nations must establish the principle across the board that all

parties must be given a hearing in all bodies, including the

Security Council, that take decisions affecting its Members.

Moreover, the most sophisticated nuclear technology should

be employed exclusively as a common shared possession to

be used for the benefit of all humankind rather than as

private property that benefits some to the detriment of

others.

We believe that in globalizing world politics and

policies, which is positive in theory in that it unifies socio-

political criteria, States should nevertheless implement the

philosophy by adopting specific measures that are in

keeping with the specific characteristics of each country. In

this connection, Equatorial Guinea has particular experience

in implementing its programme of transition to a multi-

party system by applying the theory of the democratic test,

a way to involve the people in taking all the political

decisions that affect them. As a result, our transition has

been peaceful, orderly and calm because our people

themselves, no one else, are responsible for the measures

adopted, which all political actors must respect.

A progressive and continuous process of adaptation by

the authorities and by the people themselves is needed so

that they acquire the right sort of culture in which human

rights and democracy can be respected. In that connection,

we welcome the efforts by the Commission on Human

Rights to adopt a special assistance programme for

Equatorial Guinea to promote and ensure respect for human

rights there.

We are party to all the human rights treaties and

conventions and have adopted a wide-ranging framework

of laws and regulations to protect human rights. However,

the lack of infrastructure makes it difficult for the people

to enjoy in full the various services to which they are

entitled.

I would conclude by making clear our political

resolve to contribute to the maintenance of international

peace and security, promote close friendship and mutually

beneficial cooperation between all States and promote

economic, scientific and technological development

throughout the world. The Republic of Equatorial Guinea

stands open to the world as a peaceful State that puts

dialogue and negotiation first, rejecting force of any kind

as a means of resolving conflicts.

We hope that the year 2000, which is almost on us,

will become a milestone in establishing a world truly

committed to peace, progress and prosperity for

humankind.