Mali, 1997

May

I first of all congratulate you, Mr. President, most sincerely

on your outstanding election to the presidency of the United

Nations General Assembly at its fifty-second session. I have

no doubt that thanks to your eminent qualities and your rich

experience you will carry out remarkably well the mission

entrusted to you. You may be assured of the complete

support of the delegation of Mali.

I also want to express our appreciation and thanks to

your predecessor, Ambassador Razali Ismail, for the

important contribution he made to the last session as

President of the General Assembly.

To the new Secretary-General of the Organization,

Mr. Kofi Annan, I would like to express my fraternal and

warmest congratulations. His election on 17 December

1996 was a tribute to the eminent qualities of a man who

has devoted his life to the service of the United Nations.

While wishing him every success in the difficult mission

conferred upon him, it is my firm conviction that he will

do honour to his continent, Africa, in guiding our

Organization towards the next millennium.

As this fifty-second session of the General Assembly

opens this year, the United Nations is at a crossroads.

Two years ago in this very Hall, on the occasion of the

fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, 128 Heads of

State or Government forcefully reaffirmed their faith in

the United Nations in its principles and its objectives.

They unanimously appealed for profound reflection on the

role and resources of the world Organization so that it

might be given the human, material and financial

capacities that are vital to its mission, and so that it might

be able to enter the twenty-first century with

determination and professionalism.

This appeal was not in vain. Under the dynamic

leadership of the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan,

whose courage and lucidity I wish to commend, our

Organization has today embarked on an ambitious

programme of reform. On 14 July last Mr. Kofi Annan,

continuing the work of his predecessor, submitted to the

General Assembly his report on the reform of the United

Nations. Like other Member States, Mali is now

considering the proposals contained in that report and will

without delay submit its observations thereon. My

delegation is delighted at the political will expressed by

all to initiate the appropriate reforms in order to make our

Organization better able to respond to the needs of our

day and to the aspirations of the peoples for which it was

created.

While on the topic of reform, I cannot gloss over the

substantial progress made by Member States in the

different working groups of the General Assembly. 1997

will mark the crowning of sustained efforts, including the

fulfilment of the mandates given to the Working Groups

on, respectively, the Agenda for Development and the

strengthening of the United Nations system. The

unanimous adoption by the General Assembly of the

documents that endorsed the often difficult and

painstaking deliberations of these two Working Groups

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eloquently reflects our shared will to succeed, by

consensus, in laying the groundwork for the restructuring

and modernization of our Organization in the priority fields

of development and economic cooperation.

As for the reform of the Security Council, the high-

level Working Group established to study this issue has

made considerable progress, although concrete measures

have not been adopted on such fundamental items as the

expansion and composition of the Council, and thee use of

the right of veto.

However, I welcome the many constructive and often

complementary proposals that have enriched the debates

this year. I am convinced that by redoubling our efforts we

will be able to benefit from the momentum that has been

created, and that we will succeed in restructuring and

modernizing the Security Council by making it more

democratic and credible as well as more legitimate and

transparent.

The maintenance of peace and security, we know,

requires the prevention, management and settlement of

crises — of which there unfortunately are still a large

number, often pernicious. These crises are currently sources

of grave concern to the entire international community, and

particularly to Africa, where some countries continue to be

afflicted by multifaceted conflicts. In this respect, it is

gratifying to note that significant advances have been made

here and there towards the restoration of peace and security.

My delegation is gratified at the dynamic process that

led on 20 July to the holding of general, free and credible

elections in Liberia, marking the end of a long and brutal

civil war and the establishment in that country of

democratic institutions. This victory, which is above all that

of the people of Liberia themselves, must be welcomed as

a successful example of the settlement of a regional conflict

and should serve as a source of inspiration for the

settlement of other crises.

Mali, which has played an active role in the settlement

of the Liberian crisis in both the Economic Community of

West African States (ECOWAS) and its Monitoring Group

(ECOMOG), would like to recall here that assistance for

the reconstruction of Liberia is the only means of

consolidating the peace won at such cost. The results

obtained by the Inter-African Mission to Monitor the

Implementation of the Bangui Agreements are a good

example of the virtues of direct dialogue and of

international mediation.

My country welcomes the positive evolution of the

crisis in the Central African Republic as a result of the

commendable efforts of the International Mediation

Committee established by the Nineteenth Summit Meeting

of Heads of State and Government of France and Africa.

As regards Western Sahara, my delegation is pleased

with the progress achieved at the end of the fourth round

of private contacts on the implementation of the United

Nations Settlement Plan, with a view to the organization

of a referendum for self-determination.

Conversely, the existence of other centres of tension

and breaches of democratic order are of grave concern.

This is the case in Angola, where the delaying tactics of

the União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola

(UNITA) are putting a severe strain on the peace process

under way. My country supports without reservation the

measures recently decided upon by the Security Council

relating to this party to the conflict.

Likewise, in Sierra Leone, the situation is extremely

confused because of the obstinacy of the leaders of the

military coup d’état in holding on to power in spite of the

pressure exerted by the United Nations, the Organization

of African Unity and, more particularly the Economic

Community of West African States whose select

ministerial committee has courageously and selflessly

undertaken difficult negotiations in order to achieve the

re-establishment of constitutional order with the return of

the democratically elected president.

My country, which is a member of the International

Mediation Committee in the Republic of the Congo, is

gravely concerned by the situation of widespread civil

war prevailing in that country. Once again, we appeal to

the sense of responsibility of the parties and ask them to

engage resolutely and very quickly in a political

settlement of the crisis so that the mediation process can

be brought to a successful conclusion.

This crucial moment for Africa is equally crucial for

the Middle East, where the dynamic of peace that began

with the Madrid Conference is increasingly being called

into question by the recent serious events. This is the time

and place to call urgently on the co-sponsors of the peace

process and the international community as a whole to

take further initiatives to safeguard the peace process,

inter alia by persuading the parties to resume the

negotiations as a matter of urgency with a view to the

application of the agreements that have been concluded.

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My country, Mali, also remains concerned by the

persistence of the sanctions against Member States of our

Organization, in particular the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, and

by the suffering the sanctions cause for the peoples of these

countries.

For more than 50 years, the realization of the ideal of

disarmament has been at the centre of our constant concern

to build a system of collective security, free of weapons of

mass destruction. From this viewpoint significant progress

has been made towards, in particular, the reduction and

ultimate elimination of nuclear arsenals. In this respect,

Mali welcomes the entry into force on 29 April 1997 of the

Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,

Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and

on Their Destruction.

Nevertheless, the objective of general and complete

disarmament has still to be achieved. On the basis of this

conviction, Mali has demonstrated its commitment to this

goal by taking concrete initiatives at the international,

regional and national levels. Evidence of this is the

resolution initiated by my country in 1994 and co-sponsored

by about 20 Member States, regarding “Assistance to States

for curbing the illicit traffic in small arms and collecting

them”. This initiative by Mali, which contributed to

initiating the now well-known concept of

“microdisarmament” within our Organization, is aimed at

drawing the attention of the international community to the

disastrous consequences of small arms, particularly in the

developing countries where, as we know, they play a large

part in fuelling conflicts.

All this emphasizes how important it is urgently to

support the efforts of the countries of the Saharo-Sahelian

subregion in order to stem the phenomenon of the

proliferation of small arms, especially through effective

control of borders and the review of legal instruments

regarding the bearing of arms.

Along the same lines, from 24 to 28 March 1997, the

Government of Mali organized, together with the United

Nations Department of Political Affairs, the United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO), a “Week of Peace” to commemorate the first

anniversary of the “Flame of Peace”. The international

forum, held on that occasion, which brought together the

representatives of the countries of the subregion and of the

institutions and bodies to which I have just referred, gave

an opportunity to analyse the factors that led to the

restoration of peace in the northern regions of Mali and to

identify ways and means of ensuring lasting peace and of

promoting a real culture of peace.

I would like here to echo the fervent appeal made at

that forum for good governance, which favours

participation over exclusion and dialogue over

confrontation, and which assures respect for democratic

principles and human rights. I also wish, from this

rostrum, to make an appeal to the international

community to give its full support to the proposal for a

moratorium on the import, export and production of light

weapons that was formulated during the consultations

held at the same time as the “Week of Peace”. In addition

to the countries of the West African subregion, these

consultations brought together representatives of the

United Nations, OAU, the ECOWAS/Togo agreement on

non-aggression and defence assistance (ANAD), and our

development partners.

Furthermore, the conflicts in recent years have

shown that conventional weapons can also cause mass

destruction. For that reason my country welcomed the

adoption on 18 September 1997 of the Convention on the

total ban of anti-personnel mines, and supports the

international efforts, including the Ottawa process, to

achieve the total elimination of anti-personnel mines at

the global level.

The values of peace, freedom and economic and

social justice which inspired the founding fathers of the

United Nations must remain today, more than ever, the

foundations of the joint action incumbent on us in the

quest for a decent life for everyone. In this respect, we

must, together and in a united way, seek concerted

solutions to the persistent problems of underdevelopment.

Thus, from New York in 1990, with the World

Summit for Children, to Rome in 1996 with the World

Food Summit, the great international conferences of the

decade have contributed remarkably to the preparation of

a new design for human society at the dawning of the

third millennium. The paradigm of sustainable

development, based on economic growth that is sustained,

socially equitable and ecologically viable, constitutes the

common denominator on which the international

community now agrees in order to give new direction to

the collective search for the economic and social well-

being of our peoples. The mixed results of last June’s

special session of the General Assembly devoted to an

overall evaluation of the implementation of Agenda 21

are a sharp reminder of the vital need to think for our

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world globally and act collectively to meet the challenges

confronting our planet.

Regardless of the angle from which we approach

them, the problems at the end of this century cannot be

resolved except through concerted and integrated action —

action capable of managing harmoniously the upheavals

accompanying this changing period of history. The

consensus achieved in the Agenda for Development shows

our shared faith in the virtues of a new global partnership

for development, based on the imperative of

interdependence and on mutually beneficial action.

Since the conceptual framework has been defined and

accepted by all, it is now time — and high time — to move

to action through a rational mobilization of resources in

keeping with the generous goals formulated in the Agenda

for Development.

The settlement of the debt crisis, just remuneration for

commodities, the renunciation of trade barriers and an

increase in official development assistance — this is

essentially the direction that needs to be taken in order to

build a world that is more accommodating to all, so true is

it that our global village cannot be built in a lasting way if

the majority of its members are excluded. The fight against

poverty in this context has absolute priority, because it is

simply unacceptable at the dawning of the third millennium

that millions of men and women throughout the world

should continue to lack the minimal conditions for a decent

life. The aspiration of peoples for a better life is a

legitimate quest which cannot be ignored.

As Mali sees it, any work towards sustainable

development is above all a national responsibility, through

the effective definition and application of sound

macroeconomic policies, based on transparency, the pre-

eminent rule of law, the practice of democracy, respect for

human rights, social justice, and the participation of all in

the effort of national development. For my country, this is

the surest path to follow in our quest for the shared ideal

assigned to us by the United Nations Charter:

“to promote social progress and better standards of life

in larger freedom”.

We are on the eve of a new millennium, which will

see the emergence of new challenges and new threats, but

also of great dreams and hopes for humankind.

As responsible leaders of our States, we have an

obligation to seek ways and means to meet these

challenges. But we also need to guide in the right

direction the aspirations of our peoples to live in peace,

liberty, progress and active solidarity.

Fifty-two years ago the founding fathers of our

Organization cleared the way for us to attain these noble

objectives, which are still relevant. If we apply the terms

of the Charter, we will be able to respond to particular

uncertainties and put an end to the climate of doubt, fear

and suspicion that characterizes present day international

relations.

We must also agree to do more and to do better in

our quest for a better future for the human race. We

believe in the United Nations as the institution to help us

achieve this.

The President of the Republic of Mali, His

Excellency Mr. Alpha Oumar Konaré, is convinced that

a restructured, modernized United Nations, endowed with

the essential capacity to act, can help to resolve our

disputes, ensure more orderly management of world

affairs and eliminate the injustice, disparity and egoism

that threaten humankind.

That is why my country, Mali, will continue to work

with enthusiasm and determination to ensure the

emergence of a United Nations that is truly united in its

diversity, at peace with itself and resolutely committed to

the service of all peoples.