Guinea-Bissau, 2001

Allow me, on behalf of the Government of Guinea-

Bissau and its delegation, to express sincere

condolences to the people and Government of the

United States and to the people and Government of the

Dominican Republic for the tragic event of 12

November in New York , resulting in great loss of life.

Allow me to congratulate you, Mr. President, on

your election to the presidency of the fifty-sixth

session of the General Assembly, which will certainly

be crowned with success thanks to your experienced

diplomatic skills and deep understanding of this

universal Organization.

The delegation of Guinea-Bissau, which I have

the honour of heading, would like to assure you at this

time of its full cooperation in carrying out your noble

mandate. I also extend my warm congratulations to

your predecessor, Mr. Harri Holkeri of Finland, on the

constructive way in which he led the work of the last

session.

In addition, I would like to reaffirm my

Government’s confidence in and regard for the

Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his clear

leadership of the United Nations and his incessant

search for peaceful and realistic solutions to the

various conflicts and problems that affect humanity.

The Nobel Peace Prize, awarded in October to

our Secretary-General and to the United Nations, which

he so ably leads, proves not only his commitment to the

attainment of peace and security, but also his important

role of working in the interests of humanity. For this

reason, I extend to him my most sincere

congratulations and wishes for success in the second

term of office to which he was elected, and encourage

him to continue his efforts to reform and adapt the

Organization to the needs of our time, in the service of

peace, progress and international cooperation.

In this vein, I urge the widening and deepening of

the reforms already undertaken and appeal once again

for a reform of the Security Council to increase the

number of both permanent and non-permanent

members and to bring the right of veto into line with

the needs of today.

This first General Assembly session of the

twenty-first century represents, as was stated in the

Millennium Declaration, a historic challenge for the

building of new international relations. At the

Millennium Summit, our dignitaries worked hard to

envision the role that the Organization must play in the

twenty-first century. They solemnly reaffirmed their

commitment to the noble ideals of the United Nations,

as well as their conviction that the role of the United

Nations is indispensable in the service of peace,

progress and international cooperation, and in support

of the primacy of law. During that event, our heads of

State and Government also discussed new perspectives

from which to confront the great challenges of

globalization for the promotion of a new international

human order.

In this context, the year 2001 was marked by

important international conferences: the recent World

Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination,

Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, which took place

in Durban, and whose final Declaration not only

defines slavery as a “crime against humanity” but also

launches an appeal for appropriate and efficient

measures to reverse the consequences of slavery. It also

recognizes that those “historical injustices” contribute

to poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social

exclusion, economic disparities and the insecurity of

many peoples, especially in developing countries.

9

Despite those prospects for a new historical

perspective, this session takes place at a moment of

deep disquiet for our countries and peoples. In fact, the

wave of attacks perpetrated on 11 September this year

against the Pentagon in Washington and the World

Trade Center in New York, just a few kilometres from

the Assembly, is reason for great concern for my

Government and the President of the Republic,

Mr. Kumba Yalá, who promptly and strongly

condemned the cowardly terrorist acts perpetrated

against the United States of America. Today I reaffirm

before the Assembly our unreserved condemnation of

terrorism in all its forms, wherever or whenever it

occurs and whatever its origins, since it constitutes a

threat to security, peaceful relations between States,

democratic institutions and the fulfilment of human

rights.

Today more than ever before, it is necessary to

adopt a broad strategy for the entire international

community to combat terrorism. In that context,

Guinea-Bissau appeals for greater international

cooperation on the issue of terrorism, specifically,

through the ratification of already existing regional and

international instruments and the approval, within the

context of the United Nations, of a comprehensive

convention that covers all aspects of terrorism, from a

universally accepted definition to its suppression.

It is in precisely this regard that my country,

Guinea-Bissau, became a party to the Organization of

African Unity Convention on the Prevention and

Combating of Terrorism, adopted in 1999 at Algiers,

and to the Dakar Declaration on this same scourge,

issued last October. We are determined to accelerate

the ratification and implementation processes of all the

agreements that seek to fight terrorism.

The beginning of the twenty-first century, which

coincides with the threshold of the new millennium, is

marked by areas of tension and armed conflict that

threaten peace and security and fuel the proliferation of

and illicit traffic in small arms. In this context, the

subregional and regional organizations, with the

support of the international community, through the

United Nations, are fully engaged in the search for

political solutions to conflicts. From Sierra Leone to

Angola, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to

Burundi, from Somalia to Kosovo, from East Timor to

the Middle East, the ghosts of conflict still hover as we

seek to find solutions to existing conflicts.

At present in Sierra Leone, a country of our

subregion, the Lomé Agreement, concluded under the

auspices of the Economic Community of West African

States (ECOWAS), and the subsequent success of the

United Nations-supported programme for disarming the

parties involved in the conflict, allow us to hope for a

legitimate peace.

In Angola, a member of the Community of

Portuguese-speaking Countries, cruel and destabilizing

acts continue to take place, causing enormous pain to

our Angolan brothers, who have endured the nightmare

of four decades of war. I would like to express our

solidarity with the Angolan people and Government,

and appeal for dialogue as part of the solution to that

conflict.

In East Timor, with the elections for the

Constituent Assembly already held, an important step

was taken in the transition to the independence that

will be proclaimed in May next year, and towards its

acceptance as a fully fledged member of global society.

We hope that the international community will

continue to offer its valuable assistance to our Maubere

brothers, who can finally aspire to rebuild their country

in peace.

In the Middle East, the conflict between Israel

and Palestine is at the crux of the situation. It is in that

context that we appeal to the parties, in accordance

with the Mitchell plan, to implement the accords

without delay and reaffirm the fundamental principles

established at Madrid and Oslo, as well as the

subsequent agreements. This requires the parties to

abstain from all actions that endanger the peace process

and all activity that is contrary to international law.

Finally, the embargoes imposed upon certain

countries, such as Cuba, continue to be a source of

concern because of their very negative repercussions

on the vulnerable populations of those countries, above

all women and children. The populations involved

appeal for dialogue with a view to a definitive solution

to those issues.

The sombre scene characterized by areas of

conflict and tension in the world, particularly in Africa,

places on us a moral obligation to continue to act with

even greater determination and courage to end those

conflicts and the sources of those tensions. Along these

lines, allow me to congratulate the Secretary-General,

Kofi Annan, on his last report on the causes of conflict

and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable

10

development in Africa, a document of great interest for

the African continent.

The global economic situation — particularly

after the events of 11 September — and its negative

impact, felt especially in the least developed countries,

is also an issue of concern for my Government. The

solutions to the specific problems on the international

agenda require not only concerted action, but also both

bilateral and multilateral contacts, which Guinea-

Bissau has always supported. My Government believes

in concerted and combined efforts with a view to

fostering economic growth and full employment in a

fairer global economy. Bearing in mind that a majority

of African countries have agriculture as their economic

base, we appeal to our development partners, such as

the European Union, the United States and Japan,

among others, to open their markets to the flow of

agricultural products from our countries.

By virtue of its important mission to generate an

authentic North-South dialogue, the United Nations is

our universal conscience, whose highest priority is to

meet the needs of developing countries. The

programmes of action originating from the series of

major conferences of the last decade and from other

important meetings which took place this year are of

special importance in that they contribute to identifying

needs, formulating objectives and defining strategies

for the realization of sustainable development rooted in

sustainable economic growth, social justice and the

protection of the environment. We are now waiting for

those results to be translated into concrete benefits,

thus opening the way for a better global economic

situation.

As all Members know, Guinea-Bissau continues

to live with the effects of the absurd and disastrous

armed conflict of 1998 and 1999, which, apart from the

irreparable loss of human lives, caused deep trauma to

our entire society and destroyed or damaged the

country’s existing basic infrastructure. In addition, the

marked decline in foreign aid and the slump in export

prices of cashew nuts, our main export commodity,

constitute the basic reason for our lack of resources and

for the increase in poverty. This runs counter to the

interests of our citizens and makes them more

vulnerable.

However, an unshakeable will to rebuild the

country has led my Government, together with some

development partners, to redouble its efforts to define a

strategy for sustainable development and to take

measures in the realm of human rights and

reconciliation. The programme for the reconstruction

and rehabilitation of infrastructure and for national

reconciliation, the multi-year convergence programmes

for stability, growth and solidarity elaborated in the

framework of the West African Economic and

Monetary Union, the programmes of demobilization,

reintegration and social reinsertion of combatants, the

fight against poverty, the fight against AIDS and other

programmes are clear examples of the will and

commitment of the Government to create a new reality

for society and a new action programme intended to

effect change in that society. The President of the

Republic, Mr. Kumba Yalá, is the main mentor and

guarantor of those programmes by virtue of the sacred

responsibility given to him, the highest ranking

official, by the voters of Guinea-Bissau.

The programme of action requires not only

internal but also external efforts. That is why the

Government is strengthening its cooperation with other

countries at the subregional, regional and international

levels. Despite all its efforts, Guinea-Bissau continues

to need the valuable assistance of its development

partners and of the international community to face the

difficult economic and social challenges that lie ahead.

In that regard, we appeal to the international

community to bolster its support for Guinea-Bissau and

to make donors aware of the importance of

participating actively in next year’s round table on

assistance to my country.

The celebration this year of the United Nations

Year of Dialogue among Civilizations and of the

International Year of Mobilization against Racism,

Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related

Intolerance, which coincides with the fifty-third

anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights, is a cause for satisfaction for my Government.

This is reflected in the creation of a inter-ministerial

committee on human rights tasked with overseeing

respect for human rights in our country and promoting

education and awareness programmes on human rights

issues.

Since his landslide election to the presidency of

the nation, the President of the Republic, Mr. Kumba

Yalá, has increased his contacts at various levels, with

friendship visits to Guinea, the Gambia, Senegal,

Nigeria, Morocco, Sierra Leone and other countries

with the aim of strengthening cooperation and

11

contributing to peaceful solutions within the

subregional framework.

It is in that same spirit that the authorities of my

country have maintained vigilance in the area of the

border with Senegal, with the objective of guaranteeing

the security and tranquillity of our populations in that

northern zone.

In this first year of the new millennium and of the

twenty-first century, despite certain echoes of

optimism, poverty and underdevelopment unfortunately

persist and have been aggravated in many areas of the

world, particularly in the least developed countries,

among which is Guinea-Bissau. The developing

countries, in particular the least developed among

them, continue to be marginalized in the world

economy and to be victims of extreme poverty, due

mainly to decreased official development assistance, to

the lack of productive human resources, to the

weakness of domestic and foreign investments, to the

slump in commodity prices, to the problems of debt, to

HIV/AIDS and also, obviously, to armed conflicts.

To overcome this situation it is imperative to

ensure the integration of developing countries into the

world economy and to oppose the marginalization of

those countries, ensuring sustainable, accelerated and

durable economic development as well as the

elimination of poverty, inequality and misery. In that

context, we are pleased at the results of the Third

United Nations Conference on the Least Developed

Countries, which took place in May this year at

Brussels. We are certain that the results of the

International Conference on Financing for

Development, to take place at Monterrey, Mexico, in

March 2002, will be translated into concrete action that

can reverse those negative trends.

Cooperation frameworks include the Lomé

Convention of the European Union and the African,

Caribbean and Pacific countries; the Tokyo

International Conference on African Development; the

United States African Growth and Opportunity Act;

and the Genoa decision of the Group of 8 on the

creation of a fund for the fight against contagious

diseases and AIDS on the African continent. We look

forward to the latter group’s next summit on African

problems.

Because of the particularly difficult economic

situation it faces, Africa continues to look for realistic

solutions for the continent and is giving clear proof of

its determination to improve the economies of the

countries of the continent. Beyond the programmes of

structural adjustment and other development

programmes that have been adopted for the continent,

the New African Initiative, resulting from the merger

of the plans presented by the heads of State of Senegal

and of South Africa, has come at an opportune time. It

is an African plan for Africans that provides developed

countries a historic opportunity to forge a genuine

partnership based on mutually beneficial self-interest.

The Initiative, adopted unanimously at the most recent

summit of the Organization of African Unity, held at

Lusaka, should be implemented with the utmost speed.

We appeal to the entire international community, and to

our development partners in particular, to support the

Initiative, which encompasses the relaunching of our

economies, debt reduction and the fight against AIDS.

It is regrettable that the response of our

development partners has not always been

commensurate with the degree of sacrifice that has

been endured or with the dimensions of the problems

that have been identified. That is a paradox. It is also a

paradox that the decisions of major international

conferences should not be reflected in practical,

concrete measures to implement those decisions.

The new collective challenge is to bring to light

the image of a world of equality, dignity, equity and

international solidarity, all translated into economic

and social cooperation and genuine social adjustment

with the human being as its central point of reference.