Malawi, 1994

I congratulate you, Sir,

on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly

at its forty-ninth session. Malawi is proud of you and of

your country, Côte d’Ivoire, as you represent Africa in that

very important post. I have every confidence that you will

guide the deliberations of the Assembly to a successful

conclusion.

I join other delegations in paying tribute to your

predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Samuel Insanally of

Guyana. Mr. Insanally fulfilled his mandate very well

indeed, despite the many difficult tasks the United Nations

had to carry out during the past year. My delegation

wishes Ambassador Insanally well in his future endeavours.

The Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali,

has once again demonstrated that he is the right man to

lead our Organization as it continues to assume greater

responsibilities, particularly in the maintenance of

international peace and security. The Secretary-General

has ably led the Organization in responding most

positively to the many conflict situations that beset the

world today. My Government lends its support to his

considerable efforts aimed at assuring international peace

and security and at promoting economic and social

development around the world. We wish him all the best

in carrying out his arduous tasks.

As I address the Assembly today, 30 years after the

only time my predecessor did so, I bring with me a

message of renewed hope and friendship from the people

of a newly democratic Republic of Malawi to all the

peoples of all the States represented here this morning.

Freed from fears of itself, Malawi courageously embraces

the rest of the family of nations; freed from self-imposed

isolation, Malawi stands ready to engage actively in

efforts to find international solutions to the problems of

our times.

Everyone here today will be fully aware of the

political changes that have taken place in my country

during the past two years. The one-party dictatorship that

had ruled Malawi for 30 years came to an ignoble end by

the will of the people. In the historic elections held on 17

May this year, the people of Malawi threw out an

oppressive Government that had for so long trampled

upon their human rights and fundamental freedoms with

impunity, through arbitrary arrests, detentions without trial,

and torture, a Government that brutally suppressed all

political dissent and denied its people any form of freedom

of expression and association. In so doing, it sought to rob

its people of the very essence of a human being: the ability

to think. The people of Malawi rejoin the family of nations

today as a free people.

Let me assure the Assembly that the Malawian people

shall never allow any form of dictatorship to rear its ugly

head on their soil again.

The national referendum held in June 1993 and the

presidential and parliamentary elections held in May this

year took place in a peaceful manner, and have both been

declared by the international community to have been free

and fair. This outcome was a clear manifestation of the

ardent desire of the people of Malawi to see change

brought about in their country: positive change, where

human rights and fundamental freedoms are enjoyed and

respected by all, individually and collectively.

The changes in Malawi resulted also from the

concerted efforts and assistance of the international

community. On behalf of the Government and the people

of Malawi, I wish particularly to thank the United Nations

for its special role in the process of reform and

democratization in Malawi. The Electoral Assistance

Division of the Secretariat here in New York, the Centre

for Human Rights in Geneva and the office of the United

Nations Development Programme in Malawi all worked

tirelessly to help us set up the necessary institutional

framework for bringing about the desired political change.

Let me also thank the Commonwealth Secretariat, the

Organization of African Unity, the friendly Governments

and the non-governmental organizations that were involved

in our transition process for the invaluable assistance they

too rendered to Malawi during this very critical and delicate

stage of our nation’s evolution. It is my sincere hope that

our partners in the democratic transition will consider ways

in which they can continue to work with the Malawian

people as they confront the many serious problems arising

from the excesses and vagaries of the discredited order they

recently overturned.

My Government is committed to consolidating peace,

democracy and the rule of law in Malawi. We have

emphasized that our struggle was not about personalities or

individual leaders, but rather about changing the political

way of life. It has always been the desire of the

Government to work constructively, together with other

parties, for the benefit of the nation. It is therefore

pleasing that recently the Government and one of the

opposition parties, the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD),

reached an agreement that facilitated the appointment to

the Cabinet of some AFORD members, including

Mr. Chakufwa Chihana, President of AFORD.

My Government has refrained from any form of

witch-hunting or revenge against members of the former

regime. No one in Malawi need ever fear for his life or

liberty simply because he holds differing political views

or beliefs. In this context, my Government will guarantee

all persons accused of wrongdoing the opportunity to be

heard in an open court of law.

We have at the same time expressed our desire to

see established in Malawi a culture of respect for human

rights. In this regard, my Government has, among other

things, recently signed with the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Ayala Lasso, who

visited us in August, a Joint Declaration on the Mutual

Desire to Cooperate in the Development of Programmes

for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in

Malawi. Education in Human Rights has thus a

prominent place in the programmes that are envisaged.

This is because my Government firmly believes that the

rule of law in Malawi can be consolidated if the people

know and understand what their rights are.

Basic human rights and fundamental freedoms

cannot however be meaningfully enjoyed where people

are living in conditions of economic desperation. The

majority of the people of Malawi live in extreme poverty.

It is for this reason, therefore, that poverty alleviation has

been given top priority on my Government’s agenda. The

focus on the alleviation of poverty is intended to help

consolidate the freedom and democracy that Malawians

currently enjoy.

It is common knowledge that, out of a total in 1994

of 173 countries, Malawi is number 15 from the bottom

on the scale of United Nations Development Programme

human development indicators. This reflects our

extremely low ratings in socio-economic indicators,

covering areas such as health, social welfare, education,

housing, food and nutrition. Malawi’s external debt is

also quite high. At the end of June 1994, the external

debt stock stood at $1.9 billion. Malawi’s balance of

payments position is precarious. Its commodity terms of

trade are deteriorating and are currently estimated at

72.3 per cent.

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Meanwhile, Malawi continues to suffer from the

effects of the severe drought of 1992-1993, which afflicted

the whole of southern Africa. The country is once again

experiencing serious food shortages, owing primarily to

very poor rains in the 1993-1994 season. The country

urgently needs nearly 400,000 metric tons of grain, mainly

maize, if it is to avert mass starvation and death among the

people.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has also adversely affected

my country. The ones hardest hit by this scourge are the

young and most productive segment of the population. The

resources which my Government is able to allocate, in its

national budget, for dealing with this problem are far from

adequate: it wishes it could do more.

Malawi continues to suffer also from the after-effects

of the influx of refugees of recent years. The number of

refugees from neighboring Mozambique, which once

totalled over a million people, has now been reduced to

nearly a quarter of a million. But it will take years,

probably decades, to deal with the full impact of such large

numbers. Many sectors of the economy, such as health,

education, the basic infrastructure and the environment,

have been adversely affected, with grave implications for

the already serious poverty in the country.

It is thus quite clear that fulfillment of the

Government’s policy for the alleviation of poverty will be

a major challenge indeed. The task ahead is enormous.

Many sacrifices will have to be made. My Government is,

however, determined to meet the challenges head-on. We

have to try in order to succeed. In this context, my

Government is working out a programme of poverty

alleviation that will be flexible and implementable, and

which can benefit from tangible and active assistance from

the donor community. A Presidential Council on Poverty

Alleviation, under my chairmanship, has been established

to advise the Government on the actual implementation of

the programmes envisaged. It is the Government’s

intention that people in the rural areas should be the main

beneficiaries of the poverty alleviation programmes.

The programmes will also give special attention to the

situation of children. Malawi is a party to the Convention

on the Rights of the Child. It is the intention of the new

government to translate the provisions of the Convention

into reality for every child. The first step was the

introduction, last month, of free primary education. To

date, there are 3.2 million children in school — an increase

of 1.3 million from last year. This truly is a children’s

educational revolution.

My Government is conscious of the need to

empower women so that they can become active in all

sectors of the economy and so that discrimination against

women and girls may become a thing of the past. Efforts

are under way to close the gender gap in primary and

higher education and to ensure the participation of women

in decision-making. We look forward to participating in

the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women

in Beijing in 1995.

Allow me at this juncture, on behalf of the

Government and the people of Malawi, to thank, most

sincerely, the United Nations system, donor Governments

and agencies, and our many other partners in development

for the invaluable assistance that they have given to

Malawi since it attained independence. I have broadly

outlined the problems and challenges that Malawi faces.

I am very confident that our partners in development will

continue to assist us as we forge ahead in our efforts to

improve the standard of living of our people. I wish to

appeal specifically for donor sympathy to write off

existing loans made to the Malawi Government.

I wish to assure you, Mr. President, that any

assistance that is given to Malawi will be used for the

purpose and target groups intended. The democratically

elected Government should be given the chance to make

democracy work. I also invite the private and public

sectors to come and invest in Malawi. The investment

climate in Malawi is very favourable, and opportunities

exist in such areas as tourism, mining, finance and

banking, and distribution.

Malawi welcomes the efforts to redefine the role of

the United Nations in matters pertaining to development.

In this context, the report (A/48/935) of the Secretary-

General, “An Agenda for Development”, is, in our view,

very timely indeed. The priority areas for development

outlined in the report deserve the political commitment,

active support and tangible assistance of the international

financial and donor community. The key and persistent

problem areas of concern — external debt and debt

servicing, poor access to science and technology for

development, inadequate financial flows, rapid population

growth, and problems relating to women and to social

development — need to be tackled head-on. Africa is

particularly afflicted by these problems and deserves

focused attention.

The crisis situation facing Africa calls for urgent and

important measures, such as those outlined in the United

Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in

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the 1990s, which has yet to be implemented. These

measures, as augmented by the conclusion of the Tokyo

Conference on African Development, should be given

active support. Malawi regards the recommended priorities

for development in the Agenda for Development and the

Programme of Action outlined in the New Agenda for the

Development of Africa as being complementary and critical

to the development of Africa. Malawi is all the more

interested in these developments because they are exactly

in line with the poverty-alleviation strategies that it has set

for itself.

Many positive political developments have taken place

in Africa in recent times. The current wave of

democratization has reached many parts of the continent,

including the southern Africa region, and apartheid has

been buried. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate

the people of South Africa on their first truly democratic

general elections, held in April this year, which ushered in

the multiracial Government led by His Excellency Mr.

Nelson Mandela. The present Malawi Government is

pleased that South Africa has finally and proudly resumed

its seat in the General Assembly and in all the other bodies

of the United Nations, as a free country.

The people of Malawi have close social, cultural,

economic and other relations with the people of

Mozambique; thus their joy is our joy and their sorrow is

our sorrow. We are one people. We therefore welcome

wholeheartedly the fact that the General Peace Agreement

is so far being implemented satisfactorily. And as

Mozambique moves closer to its first multi-party general

elections later this month, it is our firm belief that the

successful installation of a newly elected Government in

that country will be a major accomplishment for the

international community and southern Africa, in general,

and for the Mozambican people, in particular. Such an

outcome will give the people of Mozambique the

opportunity to rebuild their country and truly embark on

development after many years of vicious civil war. We

wish the people of Mozambique every success as they draw

nearer to the election date.

The success of the peace process in Angola would be

cause for great jubilation and satisfaction for my

Government and the people of Malawi. For too long the

people of Angola have been denied peace. They deserve to

live in honour and dignity. They have a right to a peaceful

present and a hopeful future. Peace in Angola would also

be of benefit to the entire southern African region.

Southern Africa requires peace, security and political

stability to enable it to harness and direct its vast human

and natural resources towards economic growth and

sustainable development.

We are thus encouraged by the indications of some

progress in the peace talks that have been going on in

Lusaka, Zambia, under the auspices of the United

Nations. We fervently look forward to the conclusion of

a mutually agreed final resolution to the longstanding

political deadlock and armed conflict in Angola.

The peaceful resolution of conflicts in other parts of

Africa would give us in Malawi equal joy and comfort.

Thus, for example, the situation in Rwanda has been a

source of great concern to my country. We are, however,

gratified that the horrible carnage we saw in Rwanda

recently has since come to an end and that the cholera

epidemic and the outbreak of dysentery in the refugee

camps in eastern Zaire have now been brought under

control. My Government is pleased to have made a

modest troop contribution to the United Nations

Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). In this

connection, let me most sincerely thank the Belgian

Government for providing the Malawi troop contingent in

UNAMIR with logistical and other support.

The task of the international community in Rwanda

goes beyond humanitarian assistance. The world must, in

the short term, undertake to assist Rwanda in the process

of political settlement based on national reconciliation. In

the long term, however, the major challenge for the

international community and the people of Rwanda

themselves is to find ways and means to resolve

permanently the issues that breed and nurture the kind of

intense ethnic fears and suspicion that have resulted

during the past quarter of a century alone in over four

waves of blood-letting, which seem to grow more

horrendous on each successive occasion.

My Government wishes to record here its support for

the courageous efforts exerted by the people of Burundi

to avert a similar situation to that which has consumed

neighbouring Rwanda. It has been slow and painfully

frustrating, but we believe that by having resorted to the

negotiating table, and not to arms, the people of Burundi

have taken the first step towards finding a lasting solution

that will ultimately secure permanent peace for their

country. We wish them well in this noble endeavour.

My Government is greatly concerned at the apparent

lack of a decisive response from the international

community to the pitiful situations in Liberia and

Somalia. We are also saddened by the fact that

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inflexibility and dogmatism seem once again to have

brought to naught months of painstaking effort in the search

for a solution to the problems of Sudan. Our sincere hope

is that the latest set-back will not lead to abandonment of

the Sudan situation by the international community.

My Government has followed closely the situation in

Western Sahara. While the General Assembly has been

seized of the situation in that Territory, we note with much

concern that real interest in this issue appears to diminish

every year. It seems that the Assembly has begun routinely

to adopt resolutions that, in fact, are leading directly to

international acquiescence in the status quo. We therefore

call upon the international community, and in particular the

United Nations, to live up to its responsibilities and fulfil

its promise to the Sahouri people by acting without any

further delay to hold the long-awaited referendum on that

Territory’s political future.

My Government has followed with equally keen

interest developments in other regions of the world. We

have been encouraged by the quickened tempo of the peace

process in the Middle East, as well as by the flame of hope,

albeit flickering, kindled by the first serious dialogue

between the parties to the political deadlock over the

Korean Peninsula. It is my Government’s hope that the

dialogue that has been going on between the People’s

Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan

will lead to a solution that is mutually satisfactory to the

parties concerned.

At the same time, we have been deeply grieved by the

situation in the former Yugoslavia, where some, with a

seemingly perverted sense of fair play, would have us

believe that if the victimized are prevented from defending

themselves against the aggressors the conflict there can

more quickly be brought to an end.

Recently delegations from the United States and Cuba

met in this historic city and, through negotiations unfettered

by preconditions, were able to reach a mutually agreeable

solution to a dispute that had heightened tension between

the two countries. We believe that, through a similar

approach, these two neighbouring countries could also

resolve such differences as have divided them for nearly

40 years. Five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and

after the cold war was declared over, we can see no reason

why these two great nations should not sheathe their cold-

war sabres and embrace each other for the sake of peace

and progress in their region. My Government therefore

eagerly looks forward to the day when it can join the world

in applauding the resumption of normal and friendly

relations between Cuba and the United States.

The founders of the United Nations set forth

principles that have stood the test of time. The validity

of the purposes of the Organization cannot be denied,

even today. Malawi believes in the principles and

purposes of the United Nations. In our view, this

Organization, with all its shortcomings, still represents a

viable option for addressing the many political,

socio-economic and other issues that confront our world

today. Working through the United Nations, we can all

make our world a better place.

The year 2000 is just six years away. Let us all

work together to make the twenty-first century one in

which respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms

and respect for the rule of law are the rule and not the

exception. Let us work together to emancipate our people

from the socio-economic and other ills that hold them in

bondage to misery in their daily lives. Let us work

together to avert the escalation of conflict situations. The

peaceful settlement of disputes remains one of the

cardinal principles of this Organization and of

international law. Let us make mediation a priority —

mediation at any stage of a conflict. But, better still, let

us use this Organization to find ways to reduce, if not to

eliminate, the causes of conflict situations; to reduce, if

not to eliminate, the means by which conflicts are fuelled

and perpetrated. In making these humble suggestions, we

are inspired by the preamble to the Charter.

On the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption

of the United Nations Charter, let us resolve to make the

Organization even more relevant for the next 50 years.

Let us work to strengthen the United Nations. Let us

make the organs of the Organization more effective,

transparent and accountable. In this regard, we support

the current efforts to reform the Security Council,

provided that such reform is not at the expense of

effectiveness.

Let us all work together to rationalize the work

programmes of the United Nations. Let the agenda of our

Organization reflect the priorities of our time.

The people of Malawi have embraced democracy

and the rule of law, and they look forward to

consolidating their recovered freedom. At a time when

global interdependence has become a reality, the people

of Malawi look optimistically towards a reform of this

Organization that will ensure that it can more effectively

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play its role in international efforts to achieve security and

economic prosperity for all the peoples of the world.