Eritrea, 1995

Allow me first to

congratulate Mr. Freitas do Amaral on his election as the

President of the fiftieth session of the General Assembly.

My Government is convinced that the wealth of his

experience and abilities will prove vital at this crucial

crossroads as we search for new and innovative

mechanisms and structures to enhance the effectiveness of

our Organization to meet the challenges of the coming

century.

Allow me also to pay tribute to his predecessor,

His Excellency Mr. Amara Essy, the Minister for Foreign

Affairs of Côte d’Ivoire, for the ability and commitment

that he showed in presiding over the forty-ninth session

of the General Assembly.

We further wish to express our profound

appreciation of the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros

Boutros-Ghali, and to commend him for his untiring

efforts to ensure the effectiveness of our Organization.

The multifaceted challenges that our global

community will continue to face in the period ahead, and

the opportunities that exist — more than at any time in

the past — to promote equity and justice in a more

harmonious world will require a thorough review of

16

paradigms, methods and institutions that have functioned

for the past 50 years. Indeed, different realities from those

now prevailing inspired the founding of the United Nations

in 1945 and shaped its operational mechanisms in the

subsequent decades. The situation now is very much

changed, if not altogether new.

The membership of the Organization itself has

undergone phenomenal change to increase almost fourfold.

Moreover, while the threat of a major international

confrontation has receded with the end of the cold war, a

host of other problems, including an upsurge in inter-State

conflicts, international terrorism, growing poverty and

marginalization of vast segments of humanity in the

developing countries as well as within affluent societies, are

coming to the fore. It is apparent that these problems and

realities will require novel theoretical and institutional

approaches.

It is in this context that my Government welcomes the

debates that have been provoked by the recommendations

of the independent working committee and other interested

parties on the future of the United Nations. Let me further

underline that, as one of the new Member countries of the

United Nations, we are gratified to rejoin the world

community of States and impart our views on its future,

especially as we have had the added advantage of gauging

its operations from without for most of the past 50 years.

We share the view of many Member States on the

imperative of restructuring the decision-making bodies of

the United Nations — particularly the Security Council, in

a manner that ensures adequate representation of its diverse

components and interests. The process of restructuring

should not, moreover, consist of mere enlargement through

the inclusion of a number of potential candidates as

permanent members through some selection criteria of

financial and economic clout, population size and other

similar factors. As we all agree, the issue is more profound

and transcends a simple numbers game. We hold that

serious thought must be given to devising a suitable

arrangement that guarantees the proper representation of our

global community in its rich diversity and that is amenable

to periodic adjustments to accommodate inevitable changes

in a dynamic world.

In the same vein, we welcome the emerging consensus

over rationalizing the development agencies and institutions

of the United Nations by eliminating overlapping functions

and mandates, and integrating these institutions into more

powerful and authoritative bodies. The numerous platforms

unanimously adopted at the international Summits in Rio,

Cairo, Copenhagen and Beijing, aimed at environmental

preservation, the reduction and elimination of poverty,

and the empowerment of women, cannot be realized

without the concerted efforts of these enhanced

institutions. The new drive towards their increased

integration is therefore both appropriate and timely.

None of these ideals can come to fruition without

the essential prerequisite of peace. Representing a nation

and people that have suffered the agonies of war and

conflict for almost the entire lifetime of this Organization,

my Government cannot underrate the efforts and priorities

that the United Nations must accord to the prevention and

resolution of conflicts. Past failures and inadequacies can

only reinforce the collective resolve of our global

community to check forces of aggression and

destabilization and not to let down wronged parties.

And yet we cannot hide our disappointment at the

indecision and wavering we see over sending clear signals

to defuse potential time-bombs and conflicts that are

brewing. The age-old folly of arming belligerent and

aggressor States in pursuit of narrow commercial and

other mundane interests continues unabated. This

anomalous left-over of the cold-war years must surely be

rectified, as it is the first step that we must take in our

quest for global peace and as we devise elaborate

mechanisms for conflict prevention, management and

resolution.

If I have dwelt somewhat at length on what we

aspire to see in the invigorated Organization in the

decades to come, this is due to my sincere belief that the

tone we set here collectively will have far greater

influence in shaping the future of our planet than the

isolated measures and endeavours we undertake in our

individual countries.

Allow me now, to briefly touch on issues of direct

importance to my country and our subregion. After three

decades of agonizing war, my Government is today fully

engaged in healing the wounds of war, rehabilitating a

devastated country and institutionalizing the rule of law.

The constitution-drafting process, hinged on popular

participation in all its phases, is progressing at a

satisfactory pace and according to the schedule envisaged.

We are also doing our utmost to contribute, together

with our sisterly partners, to the creation of a climate

conducive to subregional cooperation and collective

security on our part of the continent, which has seen

much turmoil and commotion in the past. The precarious

17

situation in Somalia and the problems posed by the

destabilizing policies pursued by the National Islamic Front

(NIF) regime in the Sudan only indicate the enormity of the

tasks, which need persistent and concerted efforts by all

regional and international actors concerned.

The recent document signed in regard to the

implementation of the second phase of the peace

agreement between the Palestinian and Israeli parties can

only inspire confidence in all of us that this long-drawn-

out conflict is heading towards a satisfactory resolution at

long last. We trust that these measures will contribute

towards a comprehensive settlement of the conflict in the

Middle East.

In conclusion, I wish to restate our firm belief and

hopes that our Organization will find the insight and inner

strength to reinvigorate itself to meet the challenges of the

next century. I can only reiterate my Government’s firm

commitment to play its small and modest part to advance

the ideals that bind us together.