Ethiopia, 2004

Allow me to extend to

you warm congratulations on your election as President

of the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session. I

would like to assure you of our fullest cooperation as

you discharge the heavy responsibility bestowed upon

you. I have no doubt that both Gabon and Africa will

be proud of the leadership that I know you will provide

at this session.

I would also like to commend your predecessor

for his invaluable contribution to the success of the

fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly.

We continue to be deeply grateful to the

Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for the great work

that he has been doing in a variety of areas and at

various levels. We are grateful to him for doing

whatever is humanly possible at the international level

to protect the integrity of the United Nations and to

defend the rule of law. At the level of Africa, we

appreciate his commitment to the creation of the

political and economic conditions to generate hope for

the revival of the continent.

Never before have we in Africa been as

determined and as resolute in our attempt to change for

the better the economic and social conditions on our

continent and to create the right climate for peace and

stability.

That is what the transformation of the

Organization of African Unity into the African Union

(AU) signifies and what the New Partnership for

Africa’s Development (NEPAD) symbolizes. NEPAD’s

Peer Review Mechanism is a vivid demonstration of

Africa’s commitment to good and accountable

governance.

The renewed vigour with which we in Africa

have begun to be proactive in the area of peace and

stability within the framework of the Peace and

Security Council of the AU is, indeed, a promising

beginning. But despite the efforts being made by

Africa, the progress that we have made so far has been

modest and thus insufficient to bring about hope for the

future of the continent.

Part of the explanation for that is obvious. There

is just not sufficient support internationally to make it

possible for Africa to meet the economic challenges

that it is facing. Terms of trade have continued to

militate against Africa’s development. Moreover, no

substantial progress has been made to relieve many in

Africa of the debt burden.

It is the combination of all of those factors that

has created serious doubts about the ability of many in

Africa to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

It is our hope that those trends will be reversed and that

the promises made in the Millennium Declaration

fulfilled.

At the end of the day, nations must assume

responsibility for their future, for their development

and for their peace and stability. Ethiopia has no

illusions in that regard. We realize fully that, in the

final analysis, it is what Ethiopians do that will shape

and determine our future. It is that conviction that is

the basis for the various activities currently under way

in our country.

With respect to issues of development, the

primary task for us is the fight against poverty and

ensuring food security for our people. A nation as

diverse as Ethiopia can countenance no other form of

governance than democratic governance. As such, the

very survival of Ethiopia requires good governance and

the democratic handling of differences, as a matter not

only of preference but of prudence. Peace and stability

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in Ethiopia hinge on the deepening of democracy in the

country.

It is precisely for that reason, and with a view to

making up for lost time, that at present there is no

greater imperative for Ethiopia than the fostering of

peace and stability in our country and in the region of

which Ethiopia is a part.

It is that same logic which governs Ethiopia’s

position on the peace process between Ethiopia and

Eritrea. Let there be no doubt that Ethiopia wants to

put its crisis with Eritrea behind it. Our conviction is

that both peoples would be mistaken to see the other as

an enemy. The truth is that both have one common

enemy — poverty and backwardness.

It is, indeed, regrettable that after so much

bloodshed it has become difficult for Ethiopia and

Eritrea to formally complete the peace process because

of complications that have been created in connection

with the implementation of some aspects of the

decision of the Eritrea/Ethiopia Boundary Commission

(EEBC). I said, “some aspects of the decision” of the

EEBC because, when the chips are down, the obstacles

to a breakthrough in the peace process between

Ethiopia and Eritrea involve a controversy surrounding

the demarcation of no more than 15 per cent of a

common boundary which is, altogether, more than

1,000 kilometres long.

Let me be very clear. Ethiopia is prepared to do

whatever is humanly possible for peace. There is no

greater priority for us than ensuring peace in our

country and stable and mutually beneficial relations

with all our neighbours. That is precisely why we have

reiterated that we are ready to dialogue with Eritrea

with a view to finding a win-win solution to the current

stalemate faced by both countries.

Dialogue and normalization of relations between

the two countries is not a favour that either party does

for the other, or for the international community.

Rather, it is an obligation that both countries have,

inasmuch as all other alternatives are ruled out by

international law and by the Algiers Agreement.

The promotion of durable peace between the two

countries and the call for the permanent cessation of

military hostilities between the two parties are the twin

pillars of the Algiers Agreement. Ethiopia is convinced

that the implementation of some aspects of the

Boundary Commission’s observations on demarcation

is not in the interest of peace between the two countries

and will not advance the major objectives of the

Algiers Agreement, nor will it advance the cause of

peace in our subregion.

It is under those circumstances that Ethiopia has

felt that there is only one rational way out of the

impasse — dialogue, an open-ended dialogue on all

issues dividing Ethiopia and Eritrea, including on

boundary demarcation with a view to finding an

amicable and a mutually acceptable way out of the

deadlock and a modus vivendi that would form the

basis for the normalization of relations between the

two countries.

Eritrea, however, is of a different mind. It

continues to be preoccupied with the hope of getting

the Security Council to impose sanctions on Ethiopia

and with the satisfaction that it would derive from such

an outcome. Eritrea should be made to realize that that

is unlikely to happen. Not because Eritrea is not big

enough to have its way, but because the idea is too

inappropriate and too unrealistic. Formality aside —

and Eritrea’s oft-heard refrain of “final and binding”

notwithstanding — no fair-minded person can forget

what happened in May 1998 and up through May 2000,

and what the OAU said about Badme and its environs.

But talking about the past is not going to help

Ethiopia or Eritrea. The two countries cannot continue

spending so much time on their preoccupation with

each other. That will leave no time for thinking about

their future and the future of their hungry and destitute

peoples.

There is one other important point that Eritrea

should not be allowed to continue misleading the

international community about. Nowhere in the whole

text of the Algiers Agreement of December 2000 is a

provision made for any entity — including the Security

Council and the AU — to enforce a court decision.

That omission is deliberate, not accidental. Achieving

peace and implementing the demarcation of the

common boundary between the two countries is

primarily the responsibility of Ethiopia and Eritrea, a

point that has been repeated in various resolutions by

the Security Council.

Let me close the issue by reiterating one

fundamental point. Ethiopia is committed to peace with

Eritrea and to the removal of obstacles to achieving

that objective. Whatever means might be available to

reach that goal, we will be ready to embrace them.

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Dialogue and negotiation, including using the good

offices of the Secretary-General which have been made

available to the two parties, are the most realistic and

feasible means for making progress in the peace

process. Ethiopia is ready to go more than half way to

make that a reality, but so far it has largely been left in

the proverbial situation of trying to clap with one hand.

It is our hope that reason will prevail in Eritrea sooner

rather than later.

The peace process in Somalia has now come to a

very critical point, with the Somalis having now come

closer than any time in the last 13 years to establishing

a national Government. Ethiopia will continue, as a

member of the Intergovernmental Authority on

Development Facilitation Committee, to contribute to

the achievement of national reconciliation and work to

help the Somali State rise from the ashes. That is an

obligation for Ethiopia and it is also consistent with the

vital interest Ethiopia has in peace and stability in our

subregion.

For those reasons, Ethiopia was looking forward

to the final consummation of the peace process

between the Government of the Sudan and the

Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement/Sudanese

People’s Liberation Army (SPLM/SPLA), which has

now slowed down because of the tragedy in Darfur —

an unanticipated tragedy. Ethiopia is keen to see the

Darfur crisis resolved and the humanitarian tragedy

dealt with as speedily as possible. Peace and stability

in the Sudan is so critical for our subregion and for that

reason Ethiopia will continue to do the best it can,

including as a member of the AU Peace and Security

Council, to assist that sister country to overcome the

challenge it is facing.

Ethiopia’s contribution to peace and peace-

building is not limited to what we have been doing in

our own subregion. We have from the outset been

closely associated with the prevention, management

and resolution of conflicts in the Great Lakes region,

including at the highest level. Moreover, initially as

part of the African Union mission and later as part of

the United Nations Operation in Burundi, Ethiopia’s

contingent in Burundi has continued to contribute in a

modest way to the success of the peace process there.

Another modest contribution we are making is in

joining the efforts under way for the restoration of

peace in Liberia as part of the United Nations Mission

in Liberia.

Certainly, we are also the beneficiaries of the

support of a great many countries through the United

Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE),

whose work has been critical for keeping the situation

between Ethiopia and Eritrea stable. We are indeed

grateful to UNMEE, its personnel at all levels, and to

the troop-contributing countries.

We all agree that terrorism in all its forms and

manifestations is a crime against humanity. As our

Secretary-General rightly stated in his address to this

Assembly at the 3rd meeting, “No cause, no grievance,

however legitimate in itself, can begin to justify such

acts”. The international community should therefore

fight that scourge with greater resolve and in unison.

I would like to conclude by reaffirming

Ethiopia’s commitment to the United Nations and to

the principles and purposes for the promotion of which

it was created. It is our earnest hope that the United

Nations will continue to enhance its credibility with

respect to its entire membership. That is why the

reform of the Organization is so critical and

imperative, including the reform of the Security

Council, so that regions, including Africa, can have the

fair representation they aspire to. Without a doubt,

enhanced democratization will make the United

Nations more transparent and therefore more credible.

The future of the Organization rests on it. In the

meantime, Ethiopia will continue to be devoted to the

United Nations and to the values it stands for.