Mauritania, 1994

First of all, I should like to extend to you, Sir,

on behalf of my delegation, my warmest congratulations

on your well-deserved election to the presidency of the

forty-ninth session of the General Assembly.

We are convinced that your outstanding skills and

your vast experience will guarantee the success of this

session. Your country, the sister republic of Côte

d’Ivoire, has always played an effective and moderating

role in the search for peace in Africa and throughout the

world.

I should like also to express my most sincere

congratulations to your predecessor, Ambassador Samuel

Insanally of Guyana, for the competence and skill with

which he led the work of the previous session.

I should like also to express, on behalf of the

Islamic Republic of Mauritania, our admiration of and

support for the unremitting efforts of Mr. Boutros

Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-General of the United Nations,

aimed at enabling our Organization to achieve its goals.

Our current session takes place at a time when the

international community is faced with numerous

challenges. These include a constant deterioration in the

terms of trade, the growing disparity between rich and

poor countries, and an increase in hotbeds of tension. In

addition, many people in the poor countries are being

crushed under a debt burden that is constantly getting

heavier, with, as a consequence, gloomy prospects for the

socio-economic development of the peoples of those

countries.

Instead of the hoped-for prosperity, what we are

witnessing today are bloody conflicts which are ravaging

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entire countries with all their attendant miseries and forms

of destruction. Such nefarious developments not only

undermine all the hard-won achievements of the people of

those countries, but also afflict them with new types of

suffering and make them lose any hope they may have had

in enjoying a life of dignity, stability and progress.

The international economic situation continues to be

cause for concern for a large number of developing

countries that feel the negative impacts of structural

adjustment programmes, which focus on macroeconomic

equilibriums and display a marked degree of such

indifference to the social cost of such adjustments.

It should be emphasized that of the 55 countries which

have implemented those programmes during the 1980-1989

period, only 7 have been able to improve their economic

situation. During that same decade, a downward trend in

per capita income was noted in 29 countries, while in 13

other countries there has been a real deterioration of social

conditions.

These crisis elements have been compounded by

stagnation and the reduction in public development

assistance, despite the fact that the .7 per cent objective was

supposed to contribute to the creation of better conditions.

It is regrettable to note that the deterioration in the

economic situation is of such a nature that it may well have

a negative effect on the implementation of international

conventions and programmes, notably those which relate to

the environment, the programme of action for children, and

the programme of action for the advancement and

protection of human rights. Furthermore such deterioration

will have an adverse effect on the chances for the success

of other ongoing negotiations which aim at finding

solutions to problems that threaten the prosperity of

humankind as a whole.

As a matter of fact, the negative effects of the

economic crisis are too numerous to enumerate and

unfortunately, it is the most vulnerable sectors of society,

such as women, children and the poor that bear the full

brunt of the situation. If in our time unemployment and a

high crime rate are widespread phenomena, countries with

limited resources are apt to be more exposed to their effects

than others. The need to devise a preventive approach

which would make it possible to face up to these social ills

is thus becoming all the more urgent.

In this regard, we welcome the forthcoming World

Summit for Social Development, in Copenhagen, and hope

the summit will result in initiatives that will enable

developing countries to make significant advances in their

development.

It has become quite clear that development is the

real guarantor of world peace and that the miserable

living conditions of the overwhelming majority of the

inhabitants of our planet make it impossible to achieve

peace and stability in our world.

Thus we place a great deal of hope in the Secretary-

General’s proposed Agenda for Development. Such a

document would deserve our appreciation and should

obtain widespread support in order for it to become a true

tool in promoting economic and social development

everywhere.

The fragility of the world economic situation should

not obscure the successes achieved in several areas of

international relations.

In this context, we welcome the success of the

Secretary-General’s consultations which aimed at

resolving the problems posed to certain countries by

Chapter XI of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the

Law of the Sea, whose coming into force as of 16

November 1994, will mark the beginning of a decisive

phase in its evolution.

Our country considers that the United Nations

Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly

Migratory Fish Stocks should lead to strict and global

resolutions that would put an end to the plundering of

fishing resources as well as to the anarchy that currently

prevails in the seas.

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania has, along with

countries threatened by the phenomenon of desertification,

made major efforts to conclude a world convention to

fight drought and desertification, especially in Africa.

While we welcome the positive outcome of those

negotiations, we do express the hope that the convention

will be the start of positive action on the part of the

international community in favour of those countries

which have suffered the most.

All the results achieved thanks to the efforts of the

United Nations highlight the focal and vital role with

which our Organization is entrusted and attest to its

universality.

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There is no doubt, however, that a reform of the

structures and procedures of the Organization is now

necessary. The decisions already taken to revitalize the

Economic and Social Council will be no more than a dead

letter so long as they are not accompanied by the allocation

of resources that would make it possible to implement the

development programmes.

We should always bear in mind the fact that all

conflicts and all the resultant peace-keeping operations,

which mobilize such vast financial resources, have as their

main cause the deterioration of the economic and social

conditions of the countries concerned.

A rapid overview of our globe and the areas of tension

is enough to prove that underdevelopment and the problems

it causes only fuel such tensions.

Advances in the area of democracy and human rights

are, to be sure, the most important achievements the

international community has seen in recent times.

While we commend the progress achieved in these two

areas, we must not lose sight of the fact that democracy

cannot be confined to the national frameworks of individual

States, but should embrace also international relations

among nations.

This is the reason why we support efforts to expand

representation within the Security Council by increasing its

membership. We hope that such reform will take place in

line with the tenets of democratic transparency.

Whatever the final formula adopted for the new

configuration of the Security Council might be, we believe

it will be necessary to respect the principle of the co-

equality of Member States, and the fact that, according to

Article 24 of the Charter, the Security Council acts on

behalf of those Member States, and must, therefore, reflect

the views and aspirations of the international community in

its entirety.

The democratic process which was launched in 1986

in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania through the

establishment of democratic institutions and the

organization of presidential and parliamentary elections in

1992, has been consolidated further with the organization

of elections for municipal councils and for one third of the

senate seats. Those elections, which have elicited extensive

participation on the part of voters, have been covered

extensively by the independent national press, following

electoral campaigns by several political parties which

represent various trends of opinion.

Thus the Mauritanian people are daily consolidating

the foundations of their young democracy, which in the

words of the President of the Republic, His Excellency

Mr. Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya, is the mainspring

"of all sovereignty and legality".

It is in this democratic environment that the

Mauritanian people are waging a determined struggle

against various aspects of economic and social

underdevelopment.

We should highlight the important gains made by

our country through the implementation, in 1984, of a

series of economic reforms, as well as the political

stability, freedom, justice and equality now enjoyed by all

Mauritanian citizens.

We should also voice the pride of the Islamic

Republic of Mauritania at being one of the few

developing countries where there have been no political

prisoners, and where freedom of the press, a multi-party

system, and freedom of trade unions have become

realities similar to those which States that value the rule

of law, such as the countries with longstanding

democratic traditions, pride themselves on.

The quest for peace will continue to be our main

concern so that we may rise to the challenges of the end

of this century. The end of the cold war has opened up

new vistas for the emergence of a better world where

justice and peace may prevail. Yet the increasing number

of hotbeds of tension which require the organization of

peace-keeping operations leads us to believe that a new

style of diplomacy is becoming a must if we are to

prevent the recurrence of human tragedies similar to those

which were witnessed in the past or those which we now

experience and are unable to stop or to resolve.

Our country hopes that the recent developments

which have been taking place in the Middle East will

constitute the beginnings of a solution to the tragedy of

the Palestinian people and that, at last, they will be able

to exercise their legitimate right to establish an

independent State. We believe that the Declaration of

Principles of 13 September 1993, giving autonomy to

Gaza - which was followed up by the Cairo agreement of

4 May 1994 and most recently, on 25 July 1994, the

meeting between His Majesty King Hussein of Jordan and

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin - will usher in a

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new era. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania hopes this

initial success will lead to a just, comprehensive and lasting

peace based on the implementation of Security Council

resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973).

The United Nations should continue to support peace

efforts in the Middle East until such time as a final

settlement of the problems still pending in the region is

reached. In this connection, we hope the commitment

undertaken by donors at their meeting on 1 October 1993

will be translated into concrete action that would revitalize

the economy of Palestine and help solve its economic and

social problems.

In that sensitive region, the after-effects of the Gulf

war continue to make themselves felt. The Islamic

Republic of Mauritania, which has always affirmed its

unswerving support for international legality, has made

clear its total rejection of any violation of fraternal

Kuwait’s independence or territorial integrity or of the

rights of its citizens, just as it stands against anything that

might undermine Iraq’s unity or territorial integrity. The

time has come to put an end to the suffering of the Iraqi

people.

In the same sensitive region, my country wishes to

renew its unflagging and total support for the recovery by

the fraternal State of the United Arab Emirates of its

legitimate rights over the islands of Lesser Tumb, Greater

Tumb and Abu Moussa.

With regard to the Arab Maghreb, we still hope the

United Nations will be able to eliminate the obstacles which

continue to impede the resolution to the Sahara problem.

My country will spare no effort in helping the Organization

in the implementation of resolutions relevant to this issue.

Our determination stems from our desire to reach a just and

lasting solution and to strengthen the process of building a

united Arab Maghreb.

We also hope the embargo imposed on the Libyan

people will be lifted. We are aware that the Libyan Arab

Jamahiriya has shown tangible proof of its readiness to

cooperate with the United Nations and other groups and

that the embargo is affecting the interests of all other

peoples in the Maghreb.

With regard to Africa, I should like to express my

country’s satisfaction with the peace-keeping operations

approved by the United Nations with the aim of putting an

end to the bloody confrontations in parts of that continent.

The Rwandan tragedy, marked by the death of half a

million people in the space of a few weeks, is one of the

most horrible ordeals of our era. In this connection, I

must commend the excellent organization of Operation

Turquoise, which has been led and meticulously executed

by France within the allotted time-frames. The operation

was a model of proper and disinterested humanitarian

intervention. My country took part in that noble

humanitarian action that saved tens of thousands of

human lives and provided our Rwandan brethren with an

opportunity to work together to find a solution to their

problem. We hope such international efforts will enable

those brethren to heal their wounds and work towards the

establishment of national unity and the rebuilding of their

country.

Unfortunately, Rwanda is not the only place in

Africa where an armed conflict is causing fratricidal

strife. In Somalia, Liberia and Angola, civil wars

continues to rage, despite the tireless efforts of the United

Nations and the Organization of African Unity to restore

peace and concord in place of hatred and war between

brothers. We hope the citizens of those countries will

heed the voice of reason and will agree to safeguard their

interests and the right of their peoples to enjoy peace and

security. This objective can be achieved only through

responsible and constructive dialogue. Experience has

shown that the language of arms cannot lead to valid

solutions.

In Mozambique we are following with special

interest the various steps expected to lead to the holding

of elections on the 27th and 28th of October 1994. We

hope those elections will embody the spirit of the peace

agreement concluded in October 1992 and that they will

be conducted under proper conditions of peace and

concord.

The human tragedies that have beset the African

continent should not blind us to the positive events that

have taken place, such as the triumph of democracy in

South Africa under the presidency of Nelson Mandela and

the settlement of the conflict between Libya and Chad.

We welcome the representatives of South Africa. Their

presence here among us, representing as it does the

culmination of a decades-long struggle by all African

peoples, is a source of pride and happiness.

On the European continent, which appears to all as

the most fertile ground for democracy and respect for

human rights, the outright aggression by the Serbs against

the Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a clear affront

to the human conscience. The efforts of the international

32

community over two long years have failed to put an end

to the Serbian aggression, which has clearly taken the form

of "ethnic cleansing" vis-à-vis the Muslims. No serious

military effort has been made yet to put an end to the

suffering of the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina,

who continue to suffer under the embargo that denies them

the arms needed for self-defence. Indeed, it is high time

the United Nations discharged its full responsibilities under

the Charter and used all necessary means, including armed

force, to put an end to that terrible tragedy in line with the

principles of the Charter and the Organization’s

responsibility to maintain peace.

In 1995 we will be celebrating the fiftieth anniversary

of our Organization. That commemoration should make it

possible for us to take stock of the progress made over half

a century and to devise better plans and programmes to

deal with future problems. Two other events of major

importance will take place in the same year and will have

to do with the search for solutions to major problems which

are still pending: the World Summit for Social

Development and the Fourth World Conference on Women

in Beijing. We hope the results of those two meetings will

coalesce with the outcome of the negotiations which aim at

reforming the Security Council so that the Organization will

be equipped with the necessary structures that would enable

it to deal with the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Today more than ever, the peoples of the world are

making the United Nations the repository of all their hopes,

and the Organization must ensure the maintenance of peace

and promote cooperation for development at one and the

same time. By so doing our Organization would crystallize

humanity’s aspirations to a world of peace and stability and

would then become a true crucible where all nations joined

their efforts to bring forth an era of freedom, democracy

and respect for human rights.