Mozambique, 1998

At the outset, allow me

to join the previous speakers in congratulating Mr. Opertti

most sincerely, on his election as President of the General

Assembly at its fifty-third session. His election is indeed

a recognition of his excellent qualities as an experienced

and seasoned diplomat committed to the ideals of peace.

As I congratulate him today, I am reminded of the

excellent role played by Uruguay in assisting

Mozambique to consolidate peace and stability. On behalf

of my Government, and on my own behalf, I wish to

seize this opportunity to express our heartfelt tribute to

those young men who lost their lives in the search for

peace in my country.

Let me also pay well-deserved tribute for the

excellent manner in which his predecessor, Mr. Hennadiy

Udovenko, discharged his duties as President of the

General Assembly at its last session.

I also wish to commend the Secretary-General for

his continued devotion to peace and development

worldwide. His recent initiatives in this regard deserve

my Government?s full support, and we look forward to

continuing to work closely with him.

In my last address to this body, one year ago, I

spoke of positive changes which had taken place in my

country. I am pleased to reconfirm today that the people

of Mozambique remain firm in their determination to

undertake bold steps aimed at ensuring and further

strengthening democracy, good governance and the rule

of law. Within this context, the first municipal elections

were held in June this year, thus consolidating the process

initiated with the holding of the general elections four

years ago. Preparations are currently under way for the

forthcoming general elections, scheduled for 1999.

The implementation of structural and economic

reforms under the most severe circumstances over the last

11 years should be seen within this perspective.

Mozambique is emerging step by step from the scourges

of war and is gradually proving that, with hard work and

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adequate international assistance, the country can and will

be a valuable partner in the international market place.

We believe that by concentrating on economic

fundamentals — including low inflation rates, a stable

currency and a transparent exchange-rate policy, stimulating

private-sector growth and increasing foreign and domestic

investment flows — our economy can achieve the desired

results. These measures have enabled Mozambique to

achieve a growth of 14 per cent in its gross domestic

product last year, compared to a real average growth of

about 6.6 per cent from 1991 to 1996. In addition,

increased agricultural production, coupled with the

privatization of over 900 Government-owned companies

and the rehabilitation and restructuring of the main elements

of infrastructure — such as roads, ports and railways —

have significantly contributed to raising productivity and

have played a critical role in achieving these encouraging

economic results.

The report of the Secretary-General on assistance to

Mozambique, which I highly commend, provides a further

account of the state of the Mozambican economy today.

Moreover, the Governments of the Southern African

Development Community (SADC) region, in close

cooperation with the private sector, are taking aggressive

steps towards regional integration. These include, inter alia,

the launching of mega-projects, such as the Maputo

Development Corridor, a joint initiative by the

Governments of Mozambique and of South Africa; the $1.3

billion MOZAL aluminum smelter, recently announced by

the London Metals Exchange, a multi-partnership

investment; and the Libombo Spatial Development

Initiative, involving Mozambique, Swaziland and South

Africa.

Notwithstanding these positive developments, we are

still faced with acute problems whose solution is vital if the

country is to maintain the needed stability. The most critical

of these, without a doubt, is the debt burden, which

continues to be the single most significant impediment to

national development.

My Government welcomes the decision taken in April

this year by the World Bank and the International Monetary

Fund (IMF) with regard to the eligibility of Mozambique to

debt relief within the framework of Heavily Indebted Poor

Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative. We regard this Initiative

as a recognition by the international community of my

Government?s continued commitment to undertake sound

political and economic reforms, and also of the suffering

endured by our people throughout these years of the

implementation of such measures.

While representing a significant step in the right

direction, the Initiative in its present form is not yet a

definite solution to the debt problem. Further assistance

by the international community, and the creditor

community in particular, is required. We need to ensure

the irreversibility of the positive developments, especially

taking into account that even with current relief measures,

poor countries, particularly the least developed countries,

remain poor. We would therefore encourage the creditor

and donor communities to continue to review and

consider new relief measures, including the cancellation

of official bilateral debt, in order to ensure that the

affected countries can redirect their meagre resources to

social programmes.

As a matter of fact, the eleventh meeting of the

Consultative Group for Mozambique is taking place

tomorrow in Maputo. The holding of this meeting on

Mozambican soil for the first time symbolizes the

growing relationship between Mozambique and its

partners, and my Government will do its utmost to ensure

a successful outcome of the proceedings with the creditor

community.

Moreover, we are still confronted with the issue of

the prevailing threat of anti-personnel landmines, which

continue to disrupt the very existence of nations and

peoples. For this reason, my Government has signed and

ratified the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use,

Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel

Mines and on Their Destruction. We did so as a

recognition of the imperative need to find durable

solutions to this issue. We warmly welcome the fortieth

ratification, by Burkina Faso, which will enable the

Convention to enter into force, and we hope other

countries will do the same as soon as possible.

In this regard, my Government offered to host in

Maputo next year the first meeting of States parties to the

Ottawa Convention, in accordance with article 11 of the

Convention. It is our hope that the meeting will result in

the adoption of meaningful recommendations to address

in a comprehensive manner the issue of anti-personnel

landmines, particularly international cooperation and

assistance and other relevant issues envisaged by this

important instrument of international humanitarian law.

We are eager to welcome all of you to Maputo.

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Let me take this opportunity to express my

Government?s deep gratitude and appreciation to the

pioneering role of Canada on this issue. It is my hope that

all interested parties will take an active part in the

deliberations within the framework of the draft resolution

to be presented in the First Committee.

Last April, the Secretary-General presented his report

to the Security Council on the causes of conflict and the

promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in

Africa. We wish to commend him for his vision in

preparing that report. The Secretary-General?s report

represents a valuable contribution for a better understanding

of African problems and offers concrete recommendations

for durable solutions by the international community. All

efforts should be deployed to ensure that that report does

not follow the negative examples of other similarly

important reports prepared by the United Nations before.

I am particularly thankful for the recommendation that

economic sanctions should be better targeted in order to

prevent the unnecessary suffering of innocent people, as we

have been witnessing over the years.

The concept of peace-friendly structural adjustment

programmes should be fully implemented in order to

minimize the negative consequences of such programmes

for the well-being of peoples. As outlined in these

recommendations: conditionalities should not be antithetical

to peace processes; donors should not cut off funds from

weak governments which, in good faith, are making

popularly supported efforts to implement peace agreements;

aid should be focused on high-impact areas to reduce

dependence; donors should strive to ensure that at least 50

per cent of their aid to Africa is spent in Africa; and the

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative

should be expanded to benefit more African countries.

These recommendations deserve our full support, and what

is now required of us is to find the best ways and means of

putting them into practice.

I would also agree with the Secretary-General when he

stresses that, without political will, Africa will remain

behind, with nothing to offer to future generations. For

these reasons, I wish to endorse the proposed holding of

Security Council meetings at ministerial level on a biennial

basis to assess efforts undertaken and actions needed in this

regard. Moreover, the convening of the Security Council at

summit level within five years to discuss the situation in

Africa could not be more timely. Indeed, it is high time for

the Council to devote the necessary attention to African

problems if the international community is to ensure a

better future for the African continent.

Today as yesterday, globalization is a matter of fact.

However, we cannot afford to leave vast segments of

nations and peoples unattended and still confronting basic

challenges such as famine, epidemic diseases and

inadequate water distribution, among other challenges. As

an African, I am certain that Africa is prepared to

shoulder its responsibilities in this regard, so that together

we will be able to work towards a common goal.

The crisis which initially begun as an isolated case

in the Asian economies has rapidly spread to virtually all

continents. Its consequences have demonstrated that no

country in this globalized economy is immune to the

suffering of other nations. Adequate solutions lie in

sustainable development based on partnership in

development cooperation. The persistence of extreme

poverty in developing countries, particularly in the least

developed ones, will continue to represent a threat to the

economies of developed countries. The new vision which

appears to emerge from the Bretton Woods institutions,

bringing together the United Nations and other partners in

the solution of social problems, will contribute to

addressing major challenges facing our countries today.

I would like to take this opportunity to praise the

two-day high-level meetings of the General Assembly

held a few days ago on renewal of the dialogue on

strengthening international cooperation for development

through partnership and on the social and economic

impact of globalization and interdependence and their

policy implications. The meetings demonstrated the need

to bring together governments, the private sector and

other relevant segments of civil society in the search for

solutions to global problems.

We therefore hope that the ongoing reform of the

United Nations will open new windows for the

Organization to strengthen its role and functions in the

promotion of international cooperation for the social and

economic development of developing countries. As has

been emphasized, the United Nations, by virtue of its

universal membership, is the most credible instrument for

performing development tasks.

Regional conflicts continue to be a major concern on

the agenda of the United Nations. Despite the recent

signing of understandings at Victoria Falls, the hostilities

in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continue

unabated. We are deeply concerned by the course of

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events, which threatens not only the territorial integrity of

that country but also peace and stability in the Great Lakes

region as a whole. We believe that with good will there can

be a solution addressing the concerns of all parties involved

in this conflict. Neither Africa nor the international

community can afford to add a new chapter of conflicts of

regional proportions, especially taking into account that

virtually all other long-standing conflicts in that continent

continue to defy our collective imagination.

With respect to Angola, we are equally concerned with

continued procrastination by Mr. Savimbi in the

implementation of undertakings within the framework of the

Lusaka Protocol and of relevant Security Council

resolutions. It is, indeed, the failure of União Nacional para

a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA) to live up to its

obligations which is leading the peace process in Angola to

the brink of collapse. Both the international community and

the parties concerned have an obligation to rescue the

suffering people of Angola from the prospect of yet another

conflict of major proportions. The attainment of peace in

Angola would undoubtedly contribute to bringing about

needed stability in the region.

We are fully associated with the progress made by the

Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries and by the

Economic Community of West African States in the search

for the peace which has eluded Guinea-Bissau since the

outbreak of hostilities in that country. These positive

developments underline the importance of political will by

the parties concerned, which should prevail in conflict

situations. My Government is also encouraged by the

developments concerning Western Sahara, and looks

forward to the holding of the referendum in that Territory.

It is our hope that wisdom and statesmanship will

prevail, and that peace and stability will ultimately become

a reality in Somalia, the Horn of Africa, the Sudan and

other troubled regions of the African continent and beyond.

We are encouraged by the recent developments

concerning East Timor, as illustrated by the outcome of the

most recent meeting, held in New York, between the

Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia and of Portugal

under the auspices of the Secretary-General. We wish to

encourage them to pursue further these efforts with a view

to finding a lasting and internationally acceptable solution

to this issue.

My Government has been following with keen interest

the latest developments in the Middle East. We have good

reason to be disappointed by the course of events since the

last session of the General Assembly. Without a

comprehensive and just solution to the question of

Palestine, which is the core of the conflict in the Middle

East, as well as respect for the legitimate interests of all

peoples of the region, the prospects for a lasting peace

remain in danger.

In addition, the latest developments concerning

nuclear proliferation in South Asia have added new

elements of destabilization to the already volatile

international security environment. The new arms race in

that region constitutes a major setback in the international

efforts aimed at ensuring peace, security and stability in

that region and in the world at large. Rather than

providing security guarantees for the countries concerned,

the new reality has in fact exacerbated the tensions in the

region.

This session of the General Assembly takes place at

an auspicious time for all the peoples of the world: 1998

will be recorded as the fiftieth anniversary of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Through concrete

actions the international community must honour those

who have lost their lives in defence of human dignity

during the 50 years of the existence of the Universal

Declaration. Through concrete actions we must ensure

that the horrors and uncertainties of the past and the

continued violations of fundamental human rights are not

repeated in the new millennium. We must devise

appropriate strategies and find ways and means which

will enable future generations to live in harmony, peace

and development, and which will prevent the recurrence

of the abuses of human dignity that have been witnessed

throughout human history.

It is only through such actions that we can ensure

that the motto of “all human rights for all” is fully

realized. As the Secretary-General once reminded us,

human rights belong to no Government and are limited to

no continent, for they are fundamental to humankind

itself.

We in Mozambique look forward to the celebrations

as a source of momentum in educating ourselves about

the scope and magnitude of human rights and

fundamental freedoms, taking into account that the

promotion and protection of these rights is essentially

everyone?s responsibility. However, we recognize the

primary responsibility of the State in ensuring the

enjoyment of human rights by our citizens. My

Government underscores the need to assert the integrated,

interdependent and indivisible nature of all categories of

rights, in which both political and civil rights, and

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economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to

development, are treated equally. The programme we have

prepared, which will culminate in a major celebration on 10

December, is in conformity with these principles.

The establishment in Rome last July of the

International Criminal Court represents a remarkable

contribution by mankind to the protection and promotion of

human rights all over the world. In Rome we created an

unprecedented comprehensive legal framework to

safeguard human rights and bring to justice those

responsible for the most heinous crimes ever witnessed by

humanity, such as those committed in the recent cases of

Rwanda and of the former Yugoslavia.

Although we would have liked a Court with more

far-reaching powers, we understand that the present

statute adopted in Rome represents a very delicate and

difficult compromise achieved through very long and

painful negotiations. Efforts must be made to make

possible the early entry into force of the statute of the

Court. We must also explore all possible avenues offered

by the statute to improve the functioning and competence

of the Court. That course of action would undoubtedly

provide better acceptance of the statute of the Court and

would ultimately ensure its universality.

Our success in tackling the human rights issue,

sustainable development and conflict resolution as well as

in finding consensus on the major issues within the

framework of the ongoing process of reform of our

Organization will greatly depend on the manner in which

we can accommodate our individual and collective

interests. Let us work together to ensure the attainment of

these objectives, and to enable the United Nations to fulfil

its obligations as we enter the new millennium.