Ivory Coast, 2001

The opening of the fifty-sixth session of the General

Assembly has coincided with tragic events for the host

country and for the entire world. On behalf of the

Government and the people of Côte d’Ivoire, allow me

to take this opportunity to once again express our

sincere condolences and sympathy to the Government

and the people of the United States and to all the other

countries directly affected by this tragedy.

The delegation of Côte d’Ivoire is pleased to

extend its warm congratulations to the President on his

election to lead the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth

session. We would also like to extend our

congratulations to his predecessor, Mr. Harri Holkeri,

who so ably guided the work of the Assembly at its

fifty-fifth session.

Our Organization and its Secretary-General have

just been honoured with the prestigious Nobel Peace

Prize. The Government and the people of Côte d’Ivoire

hail this well-deserved international recognition of the

importance and quality of the work done by the

Organization under the leadership of the Secretary-

General.

My delegation extends to Mr. Kofi Annan its

warm and fraternal congratulations on his historic re-

election and on the greatly appreciated work he is

doing as the head of the United Nations. The

recognition he has just received is an illustration of the

universal appreciation of his great qualities as a

diplomat and statesman, which he has put at the service

of peace and development.

In organizing the Millennium Summit and in his

personal involvement in the holding of the special

session on HIV/AIDS, as well as his involvement in the

special session on children, the Secretary-General has

put back on the agenda the concerns of developing

countries in general, including those of Côte d’Ivoire.

It is absolutely vital to sensitize the international

community on matters related to the fight against

poverty and improving protection of the rights of

women and children, to mention just two areas. Côte

d’Ivoire would like to express its appreciation in this

regard.

Finally, the Government and the people of Côte

d’Ivoire would like to express their gratitude to

Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his great

understanding of, and support for, Côte d’Ivoire

throughout the very difficult times it has experienced

since the end of 1999. He demonstrated this once again

by sending a personal representative to the forum on

national reconciliation that is now under way. The

Government and the people of Côte d’Ivoire and the

international community have great hopes for that

forum, whose success will help all participants to

dispel misunderstandings and help Côte d’Ivoire to

resume its economic growth in order to be able to play

its proper role.

My Government attaches great importance to a

social policy aimed at combating poverty and meeting

the needs of all sectors of our population in the areas of

health, education, employment and nutrition. As part of

that policy, a strategy document on poverty reduction is

being prepared.

Beginning in June 2002, a health insurance plan

will be in place as part of a national social security

system. Through that plan everyone living in Côte

d’Ivoire will be able to have health insurance,

regardless of social status. The National Assembly

adopted the necessary laws to that end on 9 October.

No effort will spared to ensure that we eliminate

the most serious social shortcomings as soon as

possible. In that regard, our greatest ambition is for

development and growth to reach the most remote

regions and for the necessary basic services of running

water, electricity, schools and health-care centres to be

available to all the people in every village of Côte

d’Ivoire. It is with this goal in mind that the

Government has established a decentralization

programme, thanks to which 58 departments of Côte

d’Ivoire will be able to administer themselves and

oversee their own development on the basis of a

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budgetary packet granted to them annually through

legislative appropriations.

In order to attain these various objectives, the

macroeconomic framework will have to be improved

through rigorous legal and budgetary measures and

through good governance. Côte d’Ivoire is strongly

determined to do its very best in this area.

Ensuring the well-being of children and the

protection of their rights is a priority for my country.

The special session on children will take place in a few

months, and our Government places great hope in the

fact that it will give us an opportunity to clarify the

actions we are taking in favour of children, particularly

in the fight against cross-border trafficking in children.

Last June, in this very Hall, States adopted new

measures and initiatives in order to ensure the effective

implementation of the Beijing Declaration and

Platform for Action. Côte d’Ivoire endorses all of these

recommendations and will do everything possible

within the framework of a renewal policy to reach as

quickly as possible this objective, which is intended to

ensure equal opportunity among men and women.

The problem of HIV/AIDS has become one of the

major concerns of the world today in general and for

Africa in particular. UN/AIDS statistics and those of

many other institutions state that throughout the world

over 30 million people are infected, of which 1.2

million are children. Africa represents only 10 per cent

of the planet’s population; nevertheless, since the

beginning of this epidemic, 83 per cent of all deaths

due to AIDS have fallen to Africa. As the Secretary-

General has rightly stressed in his report of 16

February 2001, if the epidemic continues to grow at the

present rate, the most affected nations will see a

decrease of at least 25 per cent of their estimated

economic growth over the next 20 years. For this

reason we are very glad to see the setting up of a

Global AIDS and Health Fund at the United Nations

Secretary-General’s initiative. It would also be a good

time to set up mechanisms promoting the exchange of

experience among those countries which have managed

to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS and those which are

still seeking solutions to it.

No country can flourish if international peace and

security are threatened, which is why Côte d’Ivoire is

extremely concerned by an arms race which dares not

speak its name. As party to the Pelindaba Treaty, Côte

d’Ivoire welcomes the increasing number of treaties

establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones in different

regions of the world.

The illicit proliferation and circulation of small

arms is another phenomenon that affects the African

continent, and West Africa in particular. This

phenomenon constitutes a permanent threat to peace

and slows down development in this region, where

over 15 million light weapons are circulating illegally.

Since the end of the Second World War, the

international community’s attention has focused on

nuclear arms. However, it is conventional small arms

that continue to create millions of victims. Here we

share the Secretary-General’s opinion expressed in his

Millennium Report: light weapons are indeed weapons

of mass destruction. They exacerbate regional conflicts

and contribute largely to the use of child soldiers. They

kill women, youth and children. The insecurity that this

creates prohibits any possibility of smooth economic

development.

As Members of the General Assembly know, on

31 October 1998 in Abuja, Nigeria, the Heads of State

of the Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS) decreed a moratorium aimed at reducing

the proliferation and circulation of light weapons in

West Africa. During the recent African summit, which

took place in Lusaka in July 2001, this moratorium was

extended for a three-year period, starting on 5 July

2001. This struggle can be efficient only if it is led by

the international community as a whole, and it has to

involve, of course, weapons manufacturers, official

users and civil society. The United Nations Conference

on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons

in All Its Aspects, which was held in New York from 9

to 20 July 2001, is in our opinion headed in the right

direction. Côte d’Ivoire is greatly interested in the

implementation of the Programme of Action adopted

by the Conference.

Eight years ago the General Assembly decided to

undertake the reform of the Security Council. As it

stands at the moment, the Council cannot be seen as a

democratic and representative body of all United

Nations Member States. The Council’s functions have

to be reinforced so that it can continue acting

efficiently as the United Nations body with the primary

role of ensuring the maintenance of international peace

and security. In order to do this, it is urgent and right

that the number of permanent and non-permanent

members be increased so that the composition of the

Council is in line with the complexity of a world that

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has seen great development, both quantitative and

qualitative, in international relations, the key aspect

being the increased complexity of the problems to be

solved.

In our view, the expansion of the Council should

aim at re-adapting the whole mechanism of taking and

implementing decisions. This is why the exercise of the

right of veto, equitable representation and expansion of

membership are all problems that have to be solved as

soon as possible, bearing in mind the vital urgency of

reforming the Security Council so that all nations and

regions of the world can be reflected within it. In this

regard, the Organization of African Unity (OAU),

which has now become the African Union, seeks two

permanent seats and a total of five non-permanent seats

for the African continent. Of course, Côte d’Ivoire

supports this position.

To make the reform of the Security Council a

reality, it is essential for Member States of the United

Nations, particularly the five permanent members of

the Council, to demonstrate their firm will and

commitment to carry out these reforms. The primary

duty of the United Nations, after all, is to preserve and

promote peace throughout the world based on

democratic principles. But can there be peace without

justice or equality in relations between nations?

The world as a whole and the African continent in

particular, has been torn apart by regional conflicts and

civil wars that threaten international peace and

security. Various solutions proposed by the

international community for laying down arms and for

halting the suffering of civilian populations have not

yet, unfortunately, produced the expected results. We

need to find innovative and imaginative solutions that

are political, not military. In this perspective, we

welcome the Brahimi report on peacekeeping

operations, and we hope that its recommendations are

applied as soon as possible. The impetus that the

Brahimi report is intended to give to peacekeeping

operations has to be encouraged and maintained.

The events of 11 September 2001 confirm the

Côte d’Ivoire in its condemnation of all terrorist acts as

criminal and unjustifiable, wherever they may be

carried out and whoever the perpetrators may be,

particularly those that violate the purposes and

principles of the United Nations, pose a threat to

international peace and security and jeopardize friendly

relations between countries. This is why the

Government of Côte d’Ivoire welcomes and firmly

encourages the rapid conclusion of a general

convention on international terrorism. Such a

convention would undoubtedly contribute greatly to

fighting against this scourge and would reinforce an

international legal regime on terrorism. Côte d’Ivoire

will always respect the international commitments it

has assumed since its independence. We also feel that

the rule of law should be given top priority.

We would like to pay a well-deserved tribute here

to the International Law Commission for its valuable

contribution to the development and codification of

international law, in particular law relating to the

responsibility of States, diplomatic protection,

unilateral acts of States, reservations to treaties and

international responsibility in case of damaging

consequences arising from activities that are not

prohibited by international law.

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, the role

of the United Nations is crucial. Our Organization

represents, in fact, the collective conscience and is, as a

rule, the policeman of the world, able to balance the

interests of States — those well endowed and those not

so well endowed — within the new globalizing

economy. This regulatory role for the world economy

and for international relations can be carried out fully

only in an environment of international peace, justice

and equity.