Eswatini, 1995

I bring with me the warmest

greetings and good wishes of His Majesty King Mswati III,

Her Majesty the Indlovukazi, the Government and the

people of the Kingdom of Swaziland, to all our friends and

fellow Members of the United Nations.

Swaziland extends its congratulations to Mr. Freitas do

Amaral on his election to the presidency of this historic

fiftieth session of the General Assembly, and commends his

predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Amara Essy, for his

leadership and direction as President of the General

Assembly at its forty-ninth session. The Kingdom of

Swaziland would also like to take this opportunity to

express its deep appreciation to our distinguished Secretary-

General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his relentless

efforts in directing the affairs of our vast Organization, and

whose skill and diplomacy have contributed so much to our

achievements over the past twelve months.

Each year since 1945 the General Assembly has

provided us with a chance to reflect on our achievements,

as well as on our failures over the preceding twelve

months; the goals we have met and others which, for a

variety reasons, have been missed. This process of self-

assessment is an essential element of any organization;

and for the United Nations there is a special significance

to our deliberations this year as we mark fifty years of its

existence.

Perhaps the most important development of the last

five decades has been the emergence of a new world

order, in both political and economic terms, brought about

by the transformation of many parts of the world through

new-found freedom and independence from both colonial

domination and oppressive ideologies.

Hopes continue to be raised that this new world

order would result in a strengthened commitment to

achieve common development objectives on a truly global

basis. Never before have the nations of the world been

given this opportunity to work together, with collective

responsibility, towards achieving real global security —

social, economic and political — for all our peoples.

There have undoubtedly been many encouraging

signs that we are taking our responsibilities towards one

another seriously, but we remain a long way behind in

realizing the ambitions of those ideals on which the

United Nations was established.

The foundations of our Organization were built on the

ruins of a world torn apart by war. "Never again" was the

cry of all mankind, and our structures and principles were

focused on the equal development of all nations, and on the

prevention of the occurrences of such destruction ever

again.

And yet, with all the commitment and promises, it

seems that only very recently have we seen any progress

towards global peace in this century. Certainly, the end of

the cold war did not bring the world-wide stability

envisaged by all of us at that time. Events such as the Gulf

War, the tragedy in the former Yugoslavia and the genocide

in Rwanda have shaken our belief that human beings could

ever live peacefully, side by side, with one another.

Recent developments have shown, however, that there

is a new mood abroad — one that is based on a spirit of

reconciliation and a desire for peace that gives us all reason

for hope that real progress towards lasting global stability

may be possible after all. Swaziland recognizes the role of

the United Nations in bringing about this new climate of

promise, and our Organization deserves great credit in its

continuing commitment to this noble aim.

The Kingdom of Swaziland joins the rest of the

responsible world in welcoming the recent signing of the

agreement with a view to the extension of autonomy to the

Palestinian people in the West Bank. This latest agreement

confirms the commitment of the Israeli and Palestinian

peoples to a lasting settlement of the problem that has hung

like a dark cloud over the Middle East for so long. We

congratulate all who have been involved in the process

leading to the agreement, but most of all, we applaud the

spirit of reconciliation of the leaders and both peoples and

their commitment to peace. We appeal to all in the Middle

East region to embrace the same spirit so that future

generations will never have to experience the instability and

uncertainty of the past.

There are encouraging signs, too, evident in recent

developments with regard to the situation in Bosnia and

Herzegovina. Last month the world witnessed the first steps

towards the prospect of a settlement in the Balkans. The

Kingdom of Swaziland prays that the momentum will

continue until a solution may be found that is acceptable to

all in that troubled area. Swaziland welcomes the recent

initiative leading to the signing of an agreement in

Washington and agrees that the first priority, now, must be

to ensure a lasting cease-fire and to create an atmosphere

in which the people who have suffered so much in recent

years may at last begin to bring some order into their

broken lives.

The past twelve months have seen major and

welcome progress in a number of troubled areas on our

own continent of Africa, while other regrettable situations

have surfaced to threaten the stability of the continent as

a whole.

Clearly, the commitment of all African countries to

the establishment by the Organization of African Unity of

a mechanism for the prevention, management and

resolution of conflicts is central to Africa’s efforts in

accepting responsibility for its own problems. Swaziland

strongly supports this initiative and joins its brother

African States in calling for the support of the United

Nations in this important enterprise.

Swaziland has been especially heartened by the

developments towards a lasting settlement in Angola,

engineered to a large degree by the efforts of our United

Nations Special Envoy. The signing of the Lusaka peace

accord has brought real hope that the two sides to the

conflict are now committed to peace and that the Angolan

people will now be given the chance to make a new start

in a country that has the potential to play such a vital role

in the development of the subregion as a whole. The

Kingdom of Swaziland stands ready to support and to

encourage the development of Angola and its people.

Swaziland commends the efforts made by the

international community and the neighbouring countries

of Rwanda and Burundi in bringing about an atmosphere

of relative calm to the two countries after a time of great

suffering and hardship.

Of particular note has been the role of those

countries playing host to so many refugees from the

conflicts in the area. Swaziland knows full well — and

with recent firsthand experience — the problems

associated with such a task. It is an obligation to one’s

fellow human beings to offer refuge in times of conflict,

but however willing a country may be to welcome

refugees from conflict and strife, the strain on the host

country’s resources may be too great for them to cope

with alone, and outside help is absolutely critical. The

role of the United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees is essential in this regard, and we commend the

work of that Office wherever it is needed.

In the course of the 50 years of its operation, our

Organization has learnt many valuable lessons, including

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the realization that we must adapt to changing

circumstances and to the varying needs of all our Members.

The challenges facing us have grown and spread into areas

on a scale perhaps not imagined by our founders —

challenges such as international security and peace-keeping,

the promotion of justice and democracy, and the fight

against economic and social inequalities among the

Members of our family of nations.

And as the roles of the United Nations expand and

develop, so should our capacity to undertake them. Reform

and adaptability are the key imperatives for us as we

approach the new millennium, and in this spirit, we

welcome the new agendas for peace and development

which have been initiated under the guidance of our

Secretary-General.

These initiatives, which are at the heart of what we are

trying to achieve here, create particular obligations for all

our Members and for the Organization itself: we all have a

responsibility to demonstrate real commitment towards the

principles we all have accepted. Thus, our calls for

extended United Nations peace-keeping must be supported

by full and timely contributions to the relevant budget by

all countries, and by a commitment to global peace, which

has clearly been lacking in many areas of the world.

This commitment embraces the issue that has posed

possibly the greatest threat to global security in the second

half of this century: that of containing the spread of nuclear

weapons and, ultimately, achieving a nuclear-weapon-free

world.

In this context, Swaziland enthusiastically supported,

earlier this year, the application to extend indefinitely the

Treaty on nuclear non-proliferation, and we look forward to

a successful conclusion to the negotiations on a

comprehensive test-ban treaty.

Swaziland is confident that the Secretariat of the

United Nations, under the wise and able leadership of His

Excellency the Secretary-General, is all too aware of its

own responsibilities to adapt and reform elements of the

Organization’s structures, in line with the wishes of its

Members and with regard to achieving efficiency,

adaptability and full representation of the global community

in order to meet its requirements.

Certainly, we all must feel represented in the key

decision-making bodies of the Organization, and Swaziland

therefore supports the proposals aimed, in the first place, at

making the Security Council a more credible body by

introducing wider representation among the permanent

members.

The principle of full representation within the United

Nations is an extension of the founding principle of

universality — to ensure, as much as possible, that all

peoples of the world feel that they are represented in the

one truly global Organization with the resources and

influence to effect developments for the good of mankind.

The Kingdom of Swaziland continues to have a

strong and happy partnership with a country whose people

believe that they are denied the opportunity to make their

contribution to the rest of the world through the agencies

of our Organization, and who maintain that they are

excluded from the processes of international

decision-making, to which they have a right to contribute.

The Republic of China and its 21 million people have

shown themselves to be committed to global peace and

development, and ready to share with the rest of the

world their knowledge, expertise and resources.

In the fiftieth year of the existence of United

Nations, and as we celebrate the historic signing of our

Charter, it is surely fitting that we live up to our

founders’ belief that the credibility of our Organization is

dependent on the principle that all mankind is represented

here. The declaration by a people that it believes itself to

be denied representation is surely incentive enough for us

to at least consider the case, whatever the outcome. The

Republic of China, as one of the original signatories,

believes that its appeal deserves to be heard. Swaziland

therefore encourages the growing support for the

establishment of an ad hoc committee to look into the

issue of the renewal of membership of the United Nations

for the Republic of China.

The Kingdom of Swaziland has welcomed the far-

sighted Agenda for Development, including the Africa-

specific development initiatives for the 1990s, which

contain the Organization’s operational priorities in the

area of economic and social development, and aims to

ensure sustainable growth for our economies. As we

approach the mid-term review of the continent’s

development plan, it is clear that we still lag far behind

the other regions of the world in terms of achieving our

development targets.

Swaziland has been conscientious in attending the

recent round of important United Nations summit

conferences, which have focused on key social and

economic development issues, including those on the

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environment and development, on population and

development, and this year’s social summit and Conference

on Women. In each case, we have committed ourselves to

the plans of action and are doing our best to implement the

recommendations.

A side effect of these meetings was that once again

they highlighted our continent’s limitations. While the

countries of Africa recognize our responsibilities to our

own people, it is clear that our resources, technical

knowledge and all-round expertise do not yet allow us to

progress as fast as we would like. Undoubtedly, we will

continue to require the support and understanding of the

developed world if we are ever to rid ourselves of

dependency on outside assistance, and, certainly, the United

Nations has a major role to play in the process.

The Kingdom of Swaziland has not been standing still

in its own efforts to promote economic measures aimed at

improving the living standards of its people. As is our

custom, we have consulted directly with the entire nation to

give the Swazi people themselves the opportunity to

determine priorities for their economic and social

development. The focus of our people’s concerns has been

on much of what has been discussed at the recent United

Nations conferences, and there is a direct parallel between

the recommendations of the various Summits and those of

our own consultation process. The value of this national

exercise, in a United Nations context, is that it confirms

support for what the Organization is doing at the level of

those who matter most.

Included among the issues raised in our national

economic exercise were concern over the continuing

drought and the realization that any plans we may have to

improve our economic performance will still depend to a

large extent on the inconsistencies of nature, unless we can

offset the effects of poor rainfall by large capital projects

to harness our water resources.

An increase in cross-border illegal traffic in drugs and

weapons continues to present a threat to our socio-economic

stability, and as a sign of our commitment to overcome this

growing danger the Kingdom of Swaziland and the

Republic of South Africa recently signed a joint agreement

to work together to combat cross-border crime. It is clear,

however, that what is needed is international support to

overcome what is certainly an international menace.

The Swazi nation has confirmed the importance of

increasing environmental awareness amongst our people,

and the need to protect our natural heritage is recognized as

a priority target. Land usage and agricultural

diversification are important elements of this vital issue

and we will need to acquire technical support to achieve

improvement.

Another key element of the nation’s concerns is

centred on the role of women. Swazi women are

identified as the backbone of the economy and it has been

recommended that steps be taken to bring the legal rights

of our women onto an equal basis with those of our men.

Once more, the traditions and culture of our

Kingdom have been reaffirmed as the main contributing

cause of our stability and peace. Our national identity is

important to us — it is, after all, what makes us

unique — and Swaziland feels strongly that there should

be recognition of and respect for each country’s

distinctiveness in the way we each approach an issue and

in the solutions we find to our own problems.

As the world’s leaders gather here later this month

to reaffirm our collective commitment to our founding

Charter, let our fiftieth anniversary celebration also signal

a new start for our Organization, a new beginning in

which we will address the challenges to global security

and development with a fresh sense of equal

responsibility and duty and with new structures in place

to achieve our united goal of improving the world we live

in for all our peoples. The Kingdom of Swaziland

confirms its own commitment to our founding Charter

and declares its pride in the Organization in which the

hopes of all mankind are placed. May God bless these

proceedings with the success they deserve.