Eswatini, 1994

I bring with me the

greetings and good wishes of His Majesty King Mswati III,

Her Majesty the Indlovukazi, the Government and people

of the Kingdom of Swaziland to all our friends and fellow

Members of the United Nations.

On behalf of Swaziland, may I begin by offering my

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

presidency of the General Assembly at its forty-ninth

session. We are confident that with your able leadership

our deliberations will be guided towards a successful

conclusion, for the benefit of the global community.

Let me also offer Swaziland’s gratitude and praise to

your predecessor, whose wise direction ensured the

success of the deliberations of the Assembly at its forty-

eighth session.

The past 12 months have presented many challenges

to our Organization, in its pivotal role as an effective

instrument for fostering global peace and security, and as

a dynamic forum for promoting a spirit of understanding

and cooperation among the nations of the world.

Clearly, significant progress has been made in

meeting these challenges, and my delegation recognizes

the role of the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, whose diplomatic skills and

untiring efforts have contributed so greatly to the

continuing ability of the United Nations to achieve the

successes on which the whole world depends.

In April this year, the eyes of the world were

focused on South Africa as the people of that country

went to the polls to elect, for the first time, a Government

that would represent all South Africans, regardless of

race, religion or creed. Today, in a triumph for the spirit

of reconciliation, peace and compromise among all South

Africans, we welcome the new, non-racial and democratic

South Africa back into the family of the United Nations.

While congratulating the people of South Africa for

their substantial achievement, the Kingdom of Swaziland

also salutes the role of the United Nations in bringing about

an end to a regime it had long opposed. As a result the

millions of South African people who had been denied a

voice in this Hall will once more be heard. South Africa’s

triumph is therefore also a victory for the principle of

universality, on which the United Nations was founded.

As neighbour, partner and ally, Swaziland, and the

other countries in the subregion, have particular reason to

rejoice at the successful process of transition in South

Africa. Quite apart from the benefit of peace to the area

brought about by a successful political transformation, we

all look forward to enjoying the fruits of closer economic

and trade cooperation with the region’s most influential

country.

Swaziland has been most impressed with the very

clear policy of His Excellency President Mandela, stated

consistently since he took office in May, on the importance

of close cooperation with others in the region.

We have already welcomed South Africa into the

Southern African Development Community, and other

initiatives are under way to forge closer trade and economic

links between our newly liberated neighbour and the rest of

the subregion, for South Africa cannot expect to stand on

its own in the future. It is a fact that the economic

destinies of the nations in our subregion are inextricably

bound together.

Even as we celebrate the return of peace and stability

in South Africa, our continent continues to provide some of

the worst examples of people’s inhumanity to one another.

Swaziland watched with horror as the tragedy unfolded

earlier this year in Rwanda. Many words have been spoken

here about the dreadful scenes we all witnessed, and our

hearts went out to the millions whose lives were shattered

by the effects of the civil war there. No other justification

is needed to spur on our efforts to address the issue of

conflict prevention and resolution than the loss of so many

lives, so quickly, in Rwanda. We pray that a formula for

true, lasting peace may be found, and that the two peoples

may be able to find some way of living side by side with

each other.

The situations in Burundi, Liberia, Sudan and Somalia

also continue to give us cause for grave concern.

Swaziland supports all peaceful efforts aimed at bringing

about negotiated settlements to the problems in these

countries.

Despite the many set-backs to peace on our

continent, the past twelve months have also seen

substantial progress among a number of countries -

progress which owes much to the efforts of our

Organization.

I have spoken already of our admiration for the

developments in one of our neighbouring countries, South

Africa, which took the path of reconciliation and peace

towards the much-needed process of reconstruction and

development.

The same degree of respect applies to our other

neighbour, Mozambique, which, after so long a period of

bitter hatred amongst its people, has at last chosen to lay

down weapons in favour of the ballot box. Swaziland

joins the world in praying for a peaceful election process

later this month, and calls on the leaders to allow the

same spirit of reconciliation and unity that brought an end

to the war after so many years to continue after a new

government has been chosen.

We appeal to the international community to

continue to provide the financial, technical, moral and

material support that will be necessary for Mozambique

to rebuild itself, and to give its people a chance to fulfil

their high potential.

The Kingdom of Swaziland warmly welcomes the

agreement that brought about a peaceful solution to the

situation prevailing in our sister Kingdom of Lesotho.

We welcome the opportunity presented now for the

Basotho people themselves to address their concerns. It

is our fervent hope that the agreement will be

implemented successfully, without undue delay, so that

lasting peace and stability may come to the kingdom.

The direct effects of developments on our continent

are of obvious concern to the Kingdom of Swaziland.

But in this day and age of global interdependence, the

potential effects on us of situations outside Africa are of

equal importance. Two recent developments provide

particular cause for hope in areas of long-running dispute.

In the Middle East, the seeds of peace and

reconciliation, sown last year by Prime Minister Rabin

and Chairman Arafat, and encouraged by the United

States, Norway, the United Nations and others, are at last

bearing fruit. Talk of trade and cooperation is replacing

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the noise of gunfire, as the bitter rivalries of generations

give way to a new order of peace in the region.

Swaziland salutes all those who contributed to the

process of peace in the Middle East; we appeal to the

leaders of the region to join in the process and to allow it

to continue without disruption, so that precious resources

may be directed towards worthwhile development goals.

The Kingdom of Swaziland has long been concerned

about the spread of nuclear weapons, and the effect this has

had on world stability. We were therefore encouraged by

the recent initiatives on the part of the United States and

Russia to substantially reduce the number of their weapons.

We also support all efforts on the Korean peninsula,

where disaster has been pending, to bring about real

progress on the nuclear issue. This issue has been the

focus of major instability for the entire far-east region, and

Swaziland fully supports all efforts to bring about a

peaceful resolution to the problem.

We look forward to the peaceful reunification of the

two Koreas, and encourage all moves to bring this to

fruition.

Wars and conflict situations in Africa and around the

world continue to stretch our belief that people can ever

live peacefully with one another. More and more, the

resources of the United Nations are being overextended to

meet the challenges these situations present, and conflict

resolution finds itself close to the top of the agenda for

action by this Assembly.

Mercifully, the Kingdom of Swaziland has been spared

the horrors of internal conflict, but no country can really

feel immune to the effects of war and confrontation,

wherever these may be occurring. Deciding on the best

way for the world to cope with conflict situations is

therefore a problem we all share, and we in Africa are

conscious of our particular responsibility for deciding on

mechanisms to limit, prevent and cope with conflict

situations developing on our continent.

This issue has been central during discussions at

subregional and regional conferences. Most recently,

important resolutions were adopted at the Organization of

African Unity (OAU) summit in Tunis, and at the Southern

Africa Development Community summit in Gaborone,

which went some way towards deciding on the regional

response to one of Africa’s most pressing problems.

But despite almost unanimous willingness for our

countries to become involved more directly in the

continent’s conflicts, it was clearly recognized that the

majority of us lacked the resources to lend an effective

hand.

The Kingdom of Swaziland therefore supports the

growing call for an integrated approach to conflict

resolution on our continent, which would bring close

cooperation between Africa and the rest of the world by

establishing mechanisms to coordinate the resources of

both in the most effective way. The OAU is clearly in

the best place to mobilize the efforts of its members - and

most important of all, to undertake preventive diplomacy

before a situation has the chance to develop - while the

United Nations can continue to play its role as

coordinator of the international response.

Many of Africa’s present conflicts could well have

been prevented or contained if properly coordinated

mechanisms had already been in place. The Kingdom of

Swaziland welcomes discussion here so that a plan of

action can be agreed upon quickly on this vitally

important issue.

In this regard, and as a measure of Swaziland’s

acceptance of her responsibility to the rest of the world,

His Majesty King Mswati III announced at the OAU

summit in Tunis this year that he would be taking steps

to decide how best the Kingdom’s small defence force

could be used alongside other troops in multinational

forces for the benefit of global peace and stability.

His Majesty has begun the process of investigating

under what conditions the nation’s soldiers can be

offered, bearing in mind the small size of the defence

force and our relative lack of appropriate weapons and

equipment. Clearly, we cannot allow our soldiers to enter

into potentially dangerous situations without proper

protection and without adequate training.

These are some of the issues to be looked at before

we can fully commit ourselves to taking this more active

role in global peace-keeping, and we will be approaching

the Secretary-General for consultations on this important

initiative.

This session of the General Assembly is entrusted

with the task of discussing "An Agenda for

Development". The focus of the world is on the

requirement now to channel our resources towards

achieving lasting global stability through the sustainable

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development of our countries, providing us with improved

standards for all our peoples.

The welcome end to the period of confrontation

between the world’s super-Powers should mean that

increased global resources can now be redirected to

achieving a new and more balanced world economic order.

Closer attention can now be given to the plight of all

developing countries, which continue to suffer the effects

of serious development neglect. This crucial point was

discussed at length at last weekend’s meeting of the

International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Madrid, where the

view of the developing world was made very clear.

The continent of Africa contains the highest number

of the world’s poorest countries, and any agenda for

development should take into account the special

circumstances surrounding the inability of this region to

develop effectively.

We in the region know ourselves, all too well, what

factors continue to obstruct our progress. It is a familiar

catalogue, including resource constraints; inappropriate

development policies; the slow pace of industrialization and

transformation into producers of processed goods;

inadequate infrastructure; natural disasters; and a continuing

round of armed conflicts.

We know the problems, and we are trying our best to

overcome them. We understand our responsibility to our

people to mobilize our resources in the most effective way

to overcome the obstacles to national development. The

need is clear, and our resources and abilities are limited,

but we are trying hard. We also recognize that we cannot

hope to achieve long-term sustainable development without,

at least, the short-term assistance of the rest of the global

community.

Much of what we need is contained in the United

Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the

1990s, and our continent’s collective appeal is for the swift

and full implementation of its many programmes. But each

nation has its separate, distinct needs.

Swaziland welcomes recent initiatives towards

strengthening South-South cooperation, and we believe they

will result in real progress towards overcoming the

economic challenges facing us all in that grouping.

In trying to meet our national economic development

objectives, the Kingdom of Swaziland has adopted a broad

and integrated approach aimed at achieving sustainable,

"human-centred" development, through policies that focus

on the priorities of the reduction of poverty, universal

access to primary school, and affordable primary health

care.

Recent United Nations initiatives also guide us in

our Government policies. As a follow-up to the Earth

Summit, for example, we have established a national

environmental authority to ensure that environmental

concerns are properly integrated into all stages of public

policy and national development strategy formulation.

Swaziland welcomed the opportunity to address the

recent United Nations Conference on Population and

Development in Cairo, and the adoption of the

Programme of Action constitutes a significant step in our

collective aim. The Kingdom had already embraced the

option of acceptable child spacing as the cornerstone of

our population growth policy, and we have begun a

comprehensive programme of education for our people in

the realities of and efforts to deal with overpopulation.

These and all aspects of the economic development

of the Kingdom will be debated by the whole nation

during the process of national economic consultation,

which was recently initiated by His Majesty the King.

The process is designed to allow all Swazis the

opportunity to be involved in deciding the future direction

of the Kingdom’s economy, and will embody the nation’s

wishes for future priorities and strategies. These in turn

will form the basis of our request for future support from

our friends in the international community, and we will be

keeping the United Nations fully informed of

developments.

The process follows on from last year’s very

successful political reforms, resulting from a similar

period of national consultation, which concluded last

October with direct elections to Parliament under a new

system of secret ballot. The democratic elections were

declared free and fair by the international community and,

more importantly, were what the Swazi people themselves

had chosen.

Both processes - political and economic reform -

show clearly Swaziland’s principle of rule by consensus

of the people. We believe this principle is at the heart of

the peace and stability we have enjoyed for many

generations, and it has spared us the horrors of internal

conflict suffered by so many on our continent.

4

I spoke earlier of South Africa’s return to the

international community, as, among other things, a triumph

for the United Nations in upholding the principle of

universality. The Kingdom of Swaziland urges the

Assembly to apply the same principle to investigate the

merits of the case of the Republic of China in Taiwan.

His Majesty King Mswati III joined a number of other

Heads of State in raising this issue at the forty-eighth

session of the General Assembly. His Majesty called for

the establishment of an ad hoc committee to determine

whether or not the Republic of China had a reasonable case

for rejoining our Organization. This call has been taken up

by an increasing number of countries that support the idea

of looking into the issue in more detail.

Quite apart from the principle of universality, there are

other important factors for us to consider when reviewing

the case. The Republic of China in Taiwan has much to

offer to the world community. It clearly has the resources

to be of more use to the rest of the international

community. More important, though, is the desire of the

Republic of China to be of use - and assistance - to the rest

of the world.

The Kingdom of Swaziland, along with a large

number of other developing countries throughout Africa,

Asia and the Americas, has had first-hand evidence of the

Republic of China’s willingness to offer generous

humanitarian and development assistance.

As more and more worthy targets appear for the

United Nations resources, we can surely ill afford to reject

the call to investigate further whether that country’s

assistance can be put to wider use through the agencies of

our Organization.

At the heart of the issue, though, is the fact that 21

million people believe that they are not represented in the

United Nations. These people believe that they are

excluded from our founding principle of universality. In

consideration of this right, which they believe has been

denied them, the time has surely come for us to listen to

their voices.

The Kingdom of Swaziland welcomes and supports the

participation of the Republic of China In Taiwan in the

activities of the United Nations, and we therefore call once

more for the establishment of an ad hoc committee to

review the case for their re-admittance to the Organization.

The United Nations has a distinguished history of 49

years of growth and achievement. The challenges we

faced almost 50 years ago, as the world emerged from

global conflict, have changed in substance but not in

importance.

We have the opportunity now, in this forum, to lay

the foundations for an agenda for development that will

bring about the stability and peace we all desire.

The Kingdom of Swaziland is proud of its

membership of the United Nations and commends the

work of all who have contributed to the many successes

over the years. The nation is deeply indebted to the

United Nations agencies, whose efforts are contributing so

much to the attainment of our development goals.

On behalf of His Majesty King Mswati III, Her

Majesty the Indlovukazi, and the whole Swazi nation, I

should like to reaffirm my country’s full support for, and

commitment to, the Charter of the United Nations. May

Almighty God bless these deliberations with the success

they deserve.