Kenya, 1998

I would like to begin by

congratulating the President on his unanimous election to

the presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-third

session. I am confident that under his able leadership and

with his vast diplomatic experience, we shall have fruitful

deliberations and a successful session.

Allow me also to pay tribute to his predecessor,

Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, for the skill and sensitivity he

displayed while presiding over the work of the General

Assembly during its fifty-second session.

May I also take this opportunity to commend the

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

efforts to build a prosperous United Nations through the

ongoing reforms to better meet the challenges of the next

millennium. Although adjustment and reorientation can

sometimes be painful, I am confident that under

Mr. Annan's leadership the United Nations will continue

to flourish. Kenya supports the Secretary-General in these

efforts.

The General Assembly provides Member States with

an opportunity to discuss and gain useful insights and

perceptions on key global issues of common concern to

the international community, such as securing a stable,

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peaceful and equitable world order. In this context, we

continue to witness the presence of the United Nations in

peacekeeping and peace-building, development programmes

and humanitarian assistance in Africa, Europe, Asia and the

Americas.

In our own region, for example, I wish to mention the

good work of the Nairobi-based Great Lakes Programme,

which operates under the auspices of the United Nations

Great Lakes Task Force on Relief, Reconstruction and

Development. This Programme is funded by the United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and contributes

immensely to identifying the development priorities of the

Great Lakes countries as they endeavour to make a

transition from conflict to development. Furthermore,

Kenya appreciates the timely response by the United

Nations Disaster Management Team to drought and the

floods caused by El Niño. In addition, the Office of the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

(UNHCR), with the support of the World Food Programme

(WFP), continues to look after the needs of refugees in our

country. All these efforts by United Nations agencies are

commendable and need to be encouraged and sustained.

In the last 10 years, we have witnessed significant

advances in democracy, respect for human rights and

international cooperation. Unfortunately, this was also a

period in which an estimated 4 million people were killed

in armed conflicts. A majority of these conflicts, which

now threaten international peace and security, are of an

intra-State rather than inter-State nature. Currently, there are

up to 30 civil wars and a much larger number of lower-

intensity conflicts being fought around the world. This new

pattern of conflicts comes with new problems and new

challenges for conflict resolution. There is a need, therefore,

to review the existing conflict resolution mechanisms so as

to meet these new challenges. As the Secretary-General?s

Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict

pointed out to the Security Council in June this year,

“Both international and national actors need to take

political, economic and social measures that can

generate within communities a sense of hope in place

of despair, a sense of inclusion and participation

instead of exclusion, a sense of belonging instead of

alienation”. (S/PV.3896, p. 5)

The credibility of the international community is

anchored in its ability to dispense just and sometimes

radical solutions to important questions. I have in mind the

commendable resolve of the world community to punish the

perpetrators of war crimes and other violations of

international humanitarian law. In this connection, Kenya

welcomes the work of the International Criminal

Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, as well

as the International Criminal Court, which shall soon

become a reality. The international community must

demonstrate its resolve to pursue such criminal elements

whoever and wherever they are.

Kenya supports the legitimization and strengthening

of regional bodies in peacekeeping. The Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the

Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS), under the Organization of African Unity

(OAU) in West Africa, stand out as examples of regional

organizations that have contributed immensely to

peacekeeping in conflict situations. I should also underline

the commendable role played by the Commonwealth of

Independent States and the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe in the conflicts in Croatia; Bosnia

and Herzegovina; Albania; Abkhazia, Georgia; and

currently in the Kosovo region of Yugoslavia.

In Africa, the forces of the ECOWAS Monitoring

Group (ECOMOG) reinstalled the democratically elected

Government of President Kabbah of Sierra Leone and

restored constitutional order in Liberia. The superb

performance of the Inter-African Mission to Monitor the

Implementation of the Bangui Agreements (MISAB) in

the Central African Republic also deserves

commendation. In the Eastern African region, the

Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)

continues to promote political dialogue between the

warring factions in the Sudan and Somalia. In southern

Africa, the Southern African Development Community

(SADC) has embarked on initiatives to address, inter alia,

the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

These regional organizations have made significant

progress in conflict resolution and should be given due

recognition and the necessary support. However, I would

like to emphasize that the responsibility for the

maintenance of international peace and security remains

primarily with the United Nations Security Council.

The holding of special meetings on the causes of

conflict and the promotion of durable peace and

sustainable development in Africa underscored the need

for a concerted international effort to promote peace and

security in our continent. During the special meeting on

Africa held in September 1997 and the follow-up meeting

of 24 September 1998, the Security Council observed

that, despite the progress achieved by some African

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States, the number and intensity of armed conflicts on the

continent remained a matter of grave concern. We share the

view of the Secretary-General that durable peace and

economic development go hand in hand. Kenya welcomes

the challenge posed by the Secretary-General in the three

broad areas he emphasized in his report: the necessity for

Africa to rely on political rather than military responses to

problems; the need to summon the political will to seriously

promote good governance, human rights and democracy;

and, finally, the necessity to undertake and adhere to

various reforms necessary to promote political stability and

economic growth.

While the general tendency is to seek ways of

deepening political cooperation and economic integration,

the unity and stability of some States, especially on the

African continent, is being threatened by ethnic, social and

other intra-State conflicts. In particular, conflicts in the

Great Lakes region, Somalia and southern Sudan — and,

more recently, the inter-State conflict between Ethiopia and

Eritrea — are of major concern to us. Kenya has been and

will continue to be involved in efforts aimed at reducing

tension in Africa and, indeed, beyond.

In 1996 and 1997, Kenya hosted the various Nairobi

summits on the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the

Congo and, indeed, the conflict in the southern Sudan,

under the auspices of IGAD. More recently, President Moi

met separately with the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea in

an effort to secure their commitment to pursuing

negotiations rather than war in their border dispute. These

efforts have helped to complement the important initiatives

of the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity

and others and have, in our view, contributed to ensuring

the avoidance of a full-scale war between Ethiopia and

Eritrea. I trust the necessary goodwill exists for a negotiated

final settlement in this conflict.

Regarding Somalia, we are concerned about the lack

of progress in the efforts to restore normalcy and statehood

to that country. Both the IGAD and the Cairo initiatives

have stalled. However, the cessation of hostilities; the

agreement by the warring factions in Mogadishu to have a

joint administration for the hitherto divided city; and the

reopening of the harbour and airport are encouraging. It is

our hope that the parties concerned will resume serious

dialogue sooner rather than later.

In June this year, the Security Council held an open

debate on children and armed conflict. This is a matter of

particular interest to Africa, where there are horrifying

accounts of atrocities to which children are subject or in

which they participate. We are painfully aware of the

disturbing new phenomenon of “armed labour” in some

parts of Africa and are therefore concerned about the

possibility that children could be involved in these

activities. There is the added dimension of the easy

availability of illegal small arms which, as pointed out

last week by Foreign Minister Jozias van Aartsen of the

Netherlands, have the potential of destabilizing the whole

region.

Children are our future and all should continue to

support the work of the Secretary-General and his Special

Representative to safeguard and protect them in areas of

armed conflict. To that end, my delegation reiterates the

need for strict compliance by all Member States with the

relevant provisions of international law.

Kenya believes that the adoption of the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was a crucial

step in the fulfilment of one of the main objectives in the

implementation of relevant obligations under the Treaty

on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. We believe

that our common objective should lead to complete

nuclear disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States.

It is regrettable that the perceived lack of serious

commitment by nuclear-weapon States to moving rapidly

towards genuine disarmament recently provided an excuse

for others to conduct nuclear tests. There is therefore a

need for security assurances from non-nuclear-weapon

States and, even more importantly, for urgent measures

and renewed efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

We expect the nuclear-weapon States to take their

responsibilities seriously by seizing the initiative towards

the total elimination of nuclear weapons from our planet.

The process of development during the past decade

has been uneven. A number of developing countries

recorded high rates of growth and have been able to

accelerate development. However, many of the developing

countries, especially those in Africa, have made modest

progress. The disparities in economic growth among

developing countries have largely widened. These

conditions have taken place against a backdrop of rapid

changes in the world economy, characterized by the twin

processes of globalization and liberalization, which have

become the hallmark of global economic policy. The

preferential treatment enjoyed by a large number of

developing countries under the Generalized System of

Preferences and other preferential trading arrangements,

such as the Lomé Convention, continues to be eroded.

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It is imperative for the international community to

strengthen commodity-dependent countries by means of

expanded market access for their products, as well as

support in the development of their technical and human

capacities so that they may actively participate in the

multilateral trading system. In this regard, my delegation

would like to urge the effective implementation of the

Uruguay Round results, especially with regard to market

access for goods and services of export interest to

developing countries.

Developing countries, especially those in sub-Saharan

Africa, have, during the past decade, undertaken many

efforts aimed at attracting foreign direct investment.

Unfortunately, these efforts have not yielded any significant

inflows. International capital flows play an important role

in the process of development. Kenya reiterates the need for

increased access to international financial markets for the

acquisition of finance on concessionary terms by developing

countries. In this context, Kenya attaches great importance

to the convening of an international conference on financing

for development under the auspices of the United Nations.

The liberalization of financial transactions and the

increasing freedom of capital mobility have become

important policy objectives for many countries. The

resultant need to grapple with massive international capital

flows, coupled with the experiences of financial turbulence

and turmoil in some Asian economies, has highlighted the

need to reform the international financial system. On the

Asian financial crisis, my delegation wishes to advocate

measures aimed at the restoration of stability in the affected

countries to avoid serious negative consequences around the

globe.

The external debt problem of low-income developing

countries, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa, remains

unresolved. The international community is called upon to

take actions aimed at finding lasting solutions to the debt

problem. On official bilateral debt, while we are gratified

at the adoption of the Naples terms by the Paris Club, the

slow pace of their implementation continues to be of

concern. Kenya wishes to urge the Paris Club of creditor

countries to revise the eligibility criteria so as to allow for

the inclusion of all low-income developing countries. The

problem of multilateral debt also needs to be accorded

serious attention, taking into account issues such as

increased concessional finance, debt cancellation, debt

reduction and debt relief.

My delegation would like to express concern over the

declining trend in real terms of official development

assistance over the years. In this regard, Kenya wishes to

call for the expeditious reversal of this trend by donor

countries in line with their commitments in various

United Nations resolutions and with the aim of meeting

the internationally agreed target of 0.7 per cent of gross

national product. The interdependence of the global

economy makes it necessary for those of us in the

developing world to call upon the international

community, including the United Nations agencies,

international financial institutions and multilateral and

bilateral donors, to support the implementation of

strategies for the development of the developing countries

and to give priority to financing for development and

expansion of trade in those countries through mobilization

of new and additional resources.

Kenya welcomes the appointment of Mr. Klaus

Töpfer as Director-General of the United Nations Office

at Nairobi and the elevation of the Nairobi centre to the

level of other United Nations centres at Vienna and

Geneva. As the United Nations proceeds with reform

measures to ensure the efficient use of resources, it is

imperative for the Organization to ensure maximal and

rational use of existing facilities within the system to

minimize waste. As host to the only United Nations

centre in the developing world, we are concerned that

facilities at the Nairobi Office continue to be

underutilized. Kenya would appreciate seeing maximal

utilization of facilities at the headquarters of the United

Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United

Nations Centre for Human Settlements (HABITAT) to try

and reach the capacity-utilization levels of Geneva and

Vienna. In this regard, we wish to thank the Secretary-

General for the various measures he has taken, aimed at

improving this situation. Kenya, however, still urges that

the various General Assembly resolutions on this matter

be adhered to.

We also note that both UNEP and HABITAT need

to be strengthened by streamlining their administrative

and financial management. In this connection. Kenya

welcomes the establishment of the Task Force on

Environment and Human Settlements, whose task is to

provide recommendations for new measures to strengthen

and restructure those two organizations on the basis of

General Assembly resolutions 2997 (XXVII) and 32/162,

while taking into account decisions and recommendations

of the Governing Council of UNEP and the Commission

on Human Settlements. The report of the Task Force

captures the challenges we continue to face in this area.

It states that human demands on the global life-support

system continue to mount as poverty and affluence spread

35

in parallel around the globe. Despite all the efforts made

since the United Nations Conference on the Human

Environment, held at Stockholm, the environment continues

to deteriorate in many parts of the world. Certain social,

economic and technological trends are exacerbating these

problems. Against this background, it is imperative that

UNEP be strengthened through the provision of adequate

and predictable financial resources to better execute its

mandate, and that more vigorous and coordinated action be

taken to respond effectively to these problems. In line with

resolution 52/220, Kenya urges that energetic steps be taken

on the funding from the regular budget of the United

Nations Office at Nairobi in order to enable it to discharge

its mandate.

My delegation welcomes this opportunity to express its

outrage at and condemnation of the criminal and unjustified

terrorist bombings which occurred simultaneously in

Nairobi and in Dar-es-Salaam on 7 August 1998. Terrorist

acts are by design ruthlessly indiscriminate, and the bomb

blast in Nairobi, which occurred at one of the busiest

locations in the city in terms of human traffic and

commercial activities, was no exception. It has so far

claimed 250 lives, and the death toll continues to rise.

Damage estimated at over $500 million was caused by the

bomb blast.

The bombings in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam brought

mayhem and terror of an untold magnitude to our two

countries, which had hitherto considered themselves secure

and far removed from the threats and dangers posed by acts

of international terrorism. These two incidents not only

make it abundantly clear that nobody is safe or unaffected

by such heinous acts, but also exemplify the expanding

reach and growing menace of the perpetrators of terrorist

acts.

Let me take this opportunity on behalf of the

Government of Kenya to express gratitude for the generous

assistance and support promptly made available in the

rescue efforts by Governments and international

organizations, and by volunteers who came from far and

wide.

Kenya welcomes the General Assembly?s adoption

earlier this year of the International Convention for the

Suppression of Terrorist Bombings. In this regard, we wish

to underscore the importance of enhancing international

cooperation to combat terrorism in accordance with the

relevant international instruments. We support the proposal

of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries calling for the

convening of an international conference under the auspices

of the United Nations to formulate an organized and

concerted response by the international community to

terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

In conclusion, I wish to reiterate that Kenya will

continue to participate actively in the work of the

Organization and to bear its rightful share of

responsibilities and obligations under the Charter. As we

enter the new millennium, we should all contribute to the

effort to chart a new course for a reinvigorated United

Nations in a manner that fulfils the vision of its founders

and meets the challenge of our generation and of

generations to come.