Mozambique, 2004

Mr. President,

on behalf of the people and the Government of the

Republic of Mozambique, I would like to congratulate

you upon your election as President of the fifty-ninth

session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

We are delighted to see a distinguished son of Africa in

the stewardship of the highest organ of the United

Nations, which shows the confidence the world places

on your experience, wisdom and proven skills. Let me

also pay a well-deserved tribute to your predecessor,

His Excellency Mr. Julian Robert Hunte, Minister for

External Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation

of Saint Lucia, for successfully having presided over

one of the most productive sessions of the General

Assembly.

I wish to commend the Secretary-General for his

continued devotion to the fundamental ideals of our

Organization, stressing the importance of

multilateralism, with a view to addressing the global

challenges before us, such as to eradicate poverty,

hunger, pandemic diseases and illiteracy and to bring

about development, peace and stability.

I speak before this Assembly at a time when

Mozambique is preparing to conduct its third multi-

party general elections, to be held on

1 and 2 December 2004.

Having had the privilege of leading my country

through many challenges, moving from war to peace,

from destruction to reconstruction, from economic

decline to economic growth and development, I felt I

should allow other elected sons and daughters of

Mozambique the opportunity to take up the noble task

of conducting the affairs of the nation, leading to

further gains. This is therefore my very last attendance

of a session of the General Assembly in my capacity as

Head of State and Government.

After the elections, I will join civil society and

continue to make my humble contribution to the efforts

on the prevailing challenges still facing Mozambique,

Africa and the world, particularly in the areas of peace

and the promotion of cultural, social and economic

development.

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I have been attending sessions of the General

Assembly since 1975, first in my capacity as Minister

for Foreign Affairs and then as President of

Mozambique. I cherish every moment I have spent here

at the United Nations, as part of the global efforts to

collectively find solutions to the problems around the

world. It has been, indeed, quite a rewarding

experience as, through our common resolve, we have

been able to successfully advance the decolonization

process in Africa and elsewhere, while engaging in the

struggle for peace and stability, poverty eradication and

development.

As I depart, allow me to share some reflections

on the role played by our universal Organization, the

United Nations. Reaffirming the inalienable right of all

peoples to self-determination and independence, in

accordance with the principles and objectives set forth

in the Charter of the United Nations and General

Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), Mozambique attained

its independence from colonial rule in 1975. Since

then, the country has been actively involved in the

United Nations, has progressively improved its

relations with the Organization and its related bodies

and has received strong, multidisciplinary support.

Since then, 60 territories worldwide have become

decolonized, and millions of people today are able to

exercise their right to self-determination.

It was on 16 September 1975 that, for the first

time, I had the privilege of addressing the General

Assembly from this rostrum. I was then the Foreign

Minister of my country, and I was expressing the

gratitude of the people and the Government of

Mozambique for our admission as a Member of the

United Nations.

When Mozambique was admitted, the United

Nations was composed of 144 Member States,

compared to 191 in 2004. That shows the extent of the

growth of our Organization. In Africa, countries such

as Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa and

Western Sahara were not yet independent or were

under apartheid domination. On other continents, the

situation was very similar.

The cold war was at its peak and the arms race

was a dominant feature of international politics. The

focus of the Non-Aligned Movement was on

advocating the interests of the developing countries, on

raising international awareness of the dangers and risks

of a nuclear confrontation and on the struggle for the

establishment of a new international economic order.

In those days of high political tensions, international

dialogue was characterized by confrontation and

intolerance. Today, international dialogue is more one

of consultation and the search for consensus. The

constructive dialogue existing among Africa and the

Group of Eight, the European Union, the Association

of Southeast Asian Nations, the South American

Common Market (MERCOSUR) and other regional

groupings are good examples of the prevailing new

international political mood. Throughout this process,

the United Nations has played an important role.

Soon after its independence, my country had to

face the economic and social consequences stemming

from its decision to close its border with Southern

Rhodesia, in compliance with a United Nations

resolution that imposed sanctions on that neighbouring

Territory. It was a costly measure, but because it

achieved its aim of ending the illegal regime in that

Territory, we feel proud to have taken that action.

During that period, Mozambique enjoyed

important support from the United Nations, particularly

in the areas of health, education, rural development,

advocacy and emergency assistance for the victims of

war and natural disasters.

Following many years of a destabilizing war, the

Government and the Mozambique National Resistance

(RENAMO), the former guerrilla group, signed the

General Peace Agreement on 4 October 1992. Soon

after the signing of the Agreement, the Security

Council approved the establishment of the United

Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ) to

monitor and verify its implementation.

We deeply appreciate the resolute and decisive

involvement of the United Nations in the peace

process, with the mobilization of human, material and

financial resources. That strong support from the

international community, combined with our peopleís

will and determination to achieve peace, led to what

many regard as the first example of a successful United

Nations peacekeeping mission in Africa.

During the last 12 years of peace, our country has

benefited from considerable support from the United

Nations and its various specialized bodies for

reconstruction and development activities. That

support has been critical for economic growth and the

gradual improvement of the peopleís living conditions.

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In 2000, unprecedented floods devastated

Mozambique. Those floods affected the central and

southern parts of the country, causing heavy losses of

human lives and infrastructure. Again, the response of

the United Nations and the international community to

the disaster was commendable. We take this

opportunity to reiterate our gratitude to both the United

Nations and the international community in general for

their unconditional support, without which the losses

could have been heavier.

As a result of sound economic and social policies

and an enabling political environment, we have been

able to record encouraging progress. The absolute

poverty rate decreased from 69.5 per cent in 1997 to

54.1 per cent in 2003. From 1997 to 2003, real average

gross domestic product growth was 8 per cent.

We wish to recognize the critical role played by

our development partners in assisting our country as it

embarked on its steady progress. Their continued

assistance will be critical to ensuring the sustainability

and the irreversibility of the political, economic and

social gains made so far.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic in Mozambique is a

growing threat to sustainable development. Together

with malaria, tuberculosis and cholera, it is

jeopardizing decades of economic and social

development. Without an aggressive response by the

year 2020, 20 per cent of the agricultural labour force

in Mozambique will be lost to HIV/AIDS, and it is

estimated that life expectancy will drop to 36 years by

2010.

Within the framework of the African Union and

its programmatic vision, the New Partnership for

Africaís Development (NEPAD), Africa has been

making important strides towards its renaissance and

the ownership of its destiny. In that endeavour, we have

witnessed a further strengthening of democracy on the

continent. Moreover, Africa has been increasingly

discharging its responsibility with regard to the

maintenance of peace and stability on the continent.

Today we are building self-confidence around

Africa and creating the necessary conditions for

sustainable development. Through NEPAD we are

raising the ownership spirit surrounding African

leaders to bring about significant changes in Africaís

development. The recognition that success can only be

achieved through partnership among all stakeholders is

a step forward in the establishment of public-private

partnerships, regional integration and cooperation

among different regions in Africa.

We would like to commend the decision of the

Secretary-General to appoint an advisory panel on

international support for NEPAD.

During the last few years, we have witnessed

global action towards the materialization of the

Millennium Development Goals around the world. In

that endeavour, we have registered mixed results with

encouraging developments on one side and visible

setbacks on the other.

We have seen a strong determination by

developing countries to achieve the Goals through

relevant domestic actions and policies. However,

despite such a clear commitment to improvement of the

living conditions of our respective peoples, our goals

may not be realized, due mainly to an unfavourable

international environment, including insufficient flows

of official development assistance and foreign direct

investment.

Consequently, we are failing in the creation of the

necessary conditions for the achievement of the

Millennium Development Goals. We will not be able to

achieve the 3 per cent economic growth worldwide that

is required for reducing poverty by half by 2015, while

sub-Saharan Africa records a disappointing level of

economic growth.

The flow of financial resources for the most

needed regions is decreasing. Market access remains a

challenge for both developing and developed countries.

Pandemic diseases, in particular HIV/AIDS, are

aggressively eroding the productive capacity of

developing countries.

We therefore need concerted global action to

effectively address those challenges. The meeting of

world leaders for action against hunger and poverty

held at the United Nations yesterday was an

encouraging renewal of the commitment of the

international community to make the Millennium

Development Goals a reality. The final declaration that

was adopted should be the guide to our collective

action against hunger and poverty.

The success of the ongoing reforms should be

measured against an effective improvement of global

governance and the strengthening of multilateralism,

with the General Assembly assuming a central role in

the conduct of global issues. The United Nations

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should pursue a multilateral approach that truly reflects

the current realities of the world, rather than entrench

an anachronism inherited from the end of the Second

World War.

I urge you to continue the process of reform of

our Organization, in order to have a Security Council

that is democratic, representative, equitable and

transparent. I urge you to continue with the agenda for

economic and social development.

I feel honoured for having shared experiences

with Your Excellencies. I will keep and cherish

memories of the long and difficult, but gratifying

moments that we have spent together, building

consensus around vital issues for our Organization and,

indeed, for our world. They were precious moments of

learning and of individual and collective enrichment.

I express my profound gratitude to the United

Nations family for all the support they have given to

me and to my country. I plead for the continuation of

that solidarity to Mozambique, with the aim of

eradicating poverty, hunger and endemic diseases.

I leave you with a sense of having fulfilled my

duty and given my humble contribution to the cause of

liberation, peace and development of Mozambique,

Africa and the world as a whole.

The goal of complete decolonization has not yet

been fulfilled, as the fate of 16 Non-Self-Governing

Territories has yet to be determined. We continue to

look for the day when the agenda of the General

Assembly will contemplate neither colonies nor Non-

Self-Governing Territories.

I look forward to a successful fifty-ninth session,

one in which we will focus on the priority actions for

the present year and for the years ahead. Whatever we

do, we must be able to give real hope to our nations

and peoples ó hope not just to live, but also to live

well and safely; hope not only to continue to be free,

but to be free in decency and dignity.