Senegal, 1993

The General Assembly’s annual convening in New York is

a world event which, each year, expresses the hope of

nations and peoples to find common ground, through

dialogue and joint effort, in order to live together their

shared destiny. In a world that is becoming daily more

diverse and in which peoples are witness to so many

contradictions, is it not here and now, in close friendship and

fraternal dialogue, that humanity, with its boundless

intellectual and ethical potential, can embark on a process of

self-examination and be reconciled with the universal

conscience, which is also the foundation of our human

calling to live together and in harmony?

It is in that belief that the delegation of Senegal - which

participated in your election, Mr. President, aware of your

brilliant political record and the outstanding role your

country plays on the international scene - extends to you

through me the warm congratulations of my country, our

people and its leaders. We have no doubt about your

mastery of international practice, for we know that your vast

experience as a statesman will make it possible for you to

conduct, with effectiveness, intelligence and skill the work

of this session of the General Assembly. My best wishes

are thus with you in your election and with the task you

have been called upon to accomplish, until September 1994,

from this historic and lofty rostrum.

Your predecessor, Mr. Stoyan Ganev, former Minister

for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, guided the proceedings of

the forty-seventh session of our General Assembly with a

competence and effectiveness that deserve our appreciation

and gratitude. We wish heartily to congratulate him.

I should like to pay a special tribute to our Secretary-

General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for the enormous

energy that he has expended with such foresight and courage

to ensure the implementation of the principles and the

realization of the objectives of the Charter of our

Organization. The personal friendship that I have shared

with that eminent citizen of the world for almost 25 years

allows me to reiterate the esteem and admiration that I have

always felt towards him.

Finally, I should like to extend my country’s

congratulations to all the new States Members of our

Organization - the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, the

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Principality of

Monaco, the Principality of Andorra and Eritrea. I welcome

all of them to the United Nations family.

Some 15 years ago, in September 1978, I had the

honour for the first time, in my capacity as the new Minister

for Foreign Affairs of Senegal, to address this Assembly.

As the young head of the diplomatic corps of an African

country, I referred to the many problems then confronting

the international community and which revolved around two

basic focal points.

The first of these was the accession to political

sovereignty of peoples that had not yet experienced freedom,

that had been denied the full exercise of inalienable rights

inherent to every human being on Earth. Those rights had

been denied them by other men, other peoples, other States

and other nations in the name of a system that was imposed

on them and to which they had been subjected. Hope in

their fellow man was their only defence.

The other focal point of attention was the grave

inequality of conditions for the economic, social, human and

cultural development of nations. Some of these nations had

near-total control of scientific developments, industrial

technology, transport and communications, the cultural media

and world trade networks. They even controlled the raw

materials that were produced, to a great extent, in the

underdeveloped regions.

At the same time, while the prices of these raw

materials were falling year after year at a dizzying pace,

other nations were forced to buy at a high price and with

reduced resources the consumer goods produced in the

industrialized countries. Those nations were devoting all of

their export income to these transactions and were therefore

unable to invest in order to ensure their own development.

Thus doomed to indebtedness, they lost a significant part of

Forty-eighth session - 6 October l993 9

their own sovereignty just as they were taking their first

tentative steps onto the international scene.

And here we are today, 15 years later, gathered together

to evaluate, in an outpouring of solidarity, the distance we

have covered.

The fact is that the world has changed - yes, it has

changed - and the transformations that characterize this end

of the twentieth century are so profound that the

international community at large feels the need to reform

radically the way the United Nations functions, as regards,

particularly, the composition of the Security Council, the

financial management of the United Nations and cooperation

for development, to mention just a few of the most acute

needs of the present day.

The world has changed. As for the African continent -

to take this as a point of reference - most of the peoples

formerly under foreign domination have acceded to

independence. States have been created; the structures of an

economy have been established; and political and economic

leaders have been trained and set to work to help these

peoples fulfil their destinies.

But inequalities remain, even though an unprecedented

global crisis today affects the economies of all countries,

including even those of the most highly industrialized

nations. The world economy seems to have become

dislocated. It has lost its balance. New rules are established

and developed day by day in the quest for new balances and

new solutions. And all this is done in a situation that

increasingly jeopardizes international peace. This situation

could, if we are not careful, lead to impatience, to

intolerance, to irritation, to a lack of dialogue - in short, to

inevitable confrontation. Such a threat is unacceptable, and

we must not accept it.

That is why, together with my colleagues the other

heads of delegations, I would like on behalf of my country -

an African country, a Sahelian country, a developing country

- to join other delegations in repeating to the nations

gathered here that, in spite of all these problems, we do not

have the right to despair.

For it is obvious today that the salvation of humankind

resides in solidarity and in friendship and cooperation

between human beings. The fundamental and logical

underpinnings of relations between peoples are, more than

ever before, dialogue and agreement, expressed through firm

language that translates our thoughts about the human being

and about life.

It is fortunate that a country such as France - which I

am pleased to mention, together with other industrialized

countries that are supporting Africa - reaffirmed just a few

days ago in Paris, through Mr. Alain Juppé, Minister for

Foreign Affairs, that the West in general and the European

countries in particular must be aware that if the majority of

the populations of the world remain hungry, poor, bearing

the weight of the distortions in the international economy,

and if, in addition, they see their efforts to achieve political

and social democracy destroyed by difficulties of all types,

then there will always be a risk that international peace will

be destabilized.

The industrialized countries must move in the right

direction. They must understand that international solidarity

can be expressed only through the mutual support that

nations must give each other. In this respect, our continent,

Africa, and many Asian countries should receive this support

in a context of mutual respect. In other words, the proposal

for an "agenda for development" initiated by the Brazilian

delegation, with the support of the Group of 77, to

accompany the "Agenda for Peace" submitted by our

Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, deserves the

international community’s attention. This important measure

reflects the concerns of the Head of State of Senegal,

President Abdou Diouf, who, when he addressed this

Assembly last year, on this very date, launched the idea of

a general agreement on solidarity as the foundation for

fruitful international economic cooperation, the driving force

of North-South solidarity in a renewed form.

Ancient African wisdom - the ancient wisdom of our

continent -teaches us that human beings, who alone can

change and improve their own environment, are endowed

with prodigious intellectual and moral resources, resources

based on intelligence, imagination and the ability to rise to

a situation in a way that makes it possible for them to fulfil

their destiny. We must remain united and mutually

supportive.

In this connection, the delegation of Senegal solemnly

commends the international community for the efforts that

made possible the signing in Washington on

13 September 1993 of the agreement between the State of

Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. This

historic event put an end to many decades of hostility and

rancour, which cost thousands of lives and left many

wounded and many alone, orphaned or widowed - all

because of a lack of understanding which itself led to the

destruction of the conditions for development in the Middle

Eastern countries as a whole. And, what is more, there was

the flare-up in oil prices which began in October 1973 and

10 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

which led to the inflationary curves that have since then

characterized the global economy everywhere in the world.

It is now up to the international community to work to

consolidate this important step in the direction of a just and

comprehensive peace in the Middle East. In this endeavour,

the United Nations family can rely, as in the past, on the

constant and active support of my country to ensure that in

that holy land Israelis and Palestinians can bring humankind

into harmony with its profound values of tolerance, wisdom

and concord.

That is also the way we view the efforts made to

resolve conflicts that in the past seemed beyond any human

solution. I have in mind, inter alia, Cambodia, where the

settlement plan designed by the United Nations led to the

holding in May 1993 of general, orderly and democratic

elections, as a result of which a legitimate Government was

established; El Salvador, where, after several years of civil

war, negotiations conducted under the auspices of the United

Nations led to the signing, at the beginning of last year, of

the Mexico Agreement, which initiated a period of transition

towards general elections planned for the beginning of 1994;

Liberia, where repeated initiatives pursued by the members

of the Economic Community of West African States,

supported by the United Nations and by the Organization of

African Unity, made it possible to conclude, in July 1993, a

new peace agreement which should, as we fervently hope,

lead to a definitive settlement of that fratricidal conflict; and

Mozambique and Rwanda, where similar agreements have

been concluded and where the United Nations has been

meaningfully involved in their practical and complete

implementation.

I also have in mind South Africa, where considerable

progress has been made toward eliminating a system which

the entire world rejected and condemned, and where peoples,

united in fruitful diversity, must work together for the

emergence of a human community characterized by justice

and equality. My country, Senegal, will respond to the

appeal made in this Hall a few days ago by President Nelson

Mandela, when, from this very rostrum, he invited the

international community to take a new approach consistent

with the evolution of the situation in his country.

All of these are excellent examples of the fact that

these new times bear new hopes, even though we still have

grounds for legitimate concern. In fact, despite the victories

that freedom has won, when peoples are liberated peace is

not always the result. The legacy of the collapsing old order

is in fact often an unwieldy one, difficult to manage. On the

ruins of oppression which lasted for far too long we must

build a new world, a world of freedom and peace, of justice

and progress.

During this uncertain period of transition, border

conflicts, problems between neighbours and religious

tensions bring a return to the conflicts - civil war, genocide,

rivalry among members of the same national community - of

an era we thought past. Yugoslavia, Somalia, Angola:

there are many examples that show that universal peace, that

primary objective of the United Nations, is yet but an

aspiration.

The challenge, therefore, is to do all in our power so

that in all parts of the world the freedoms regained will open

the way to peace. My country, Senegal, which has always

and in every way been committed to strengthening peace and

promoting security, feels that working towards this objective

means, first and foremost, affirming forcefully the rule of

law in international relations. Lasting peace and security, in

fact, can be guaranteed only if all nations of the world

comply with the rule of law in their relations with other

nations. That law must be the same for all if justice is to

prevail.

In this context, and in connection with the tragedy of

the fraternal people of Kuwait, I welcome the happy

conclusions that have been reached by the Iraq-Kuwait

Boundary Demarcation Commission. The international

community must continue to protect all States from any

external threat to their independence and sovereignty.

My thoughts turn also to Bosnia and Herzegovina, a

martyred State and a State Member of the United Nations.

I believe the international community has endeavoured in

every stage of the evolution of the situation in the former

Yugoslavia to guarantee the territorial integrity and

sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the international

community has committed itself to enforcing, above all, the

rights of the Bosnian people, a people today undeniably the

victim of true genocide. This commitment must be

respected because the very credibility of our Organization is

at stake.

In any event, it is in order to uphold respect for that

commitment that my country, whose Head of State is

Chairman of the Sixth Islamic Summit Conference, intends

to continue the efforts he has already begun to contribute to

the promotion of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in close

cooperation with all countries that cherish the same ideals of

peace and justice.

Forty-eighth session - 6 October l993 11

I also have in mind the painful situation prevailing in

Angola. The Bicesse Accords, although freely entered into

by the parties to the conflict, seem today to have collapsed.

By calling into question the validity of the elections

organized a year ago under those same Bicesse Accords,

UNITA has once again plunged Angola into an atmosphere

fraught with danger and uncertainty. The magnitude of the

destruction and suffering caused by this situation warrants

urgent efforts to arrive at a definitive cease-fire and a

resumption of negotiations. The framework already exists:

the Bicesse Accords, endorsed by the United Nations. The

principles on which any solution to the conflict must be

based are also very clear: the safeguarding of Angola’s

territorial integrity and national unity and also, above all,

respect for the will of the Angolan people, freely expressed

in the elections a year ago.

On these bases, my country would here like to send out

a solemn appeal to all our Angolan brothers and sisters,

above all those of UNITA, to understand that it is not in the

interests of the Angolan people to continue the fighting. The

interests of the Angolan people reside exclusively in the

national effort that all must make to restore peace and

harmony to Angola. We Senegalese, for our part, support all

efforts to help them in this regard.

There is also the situation in Somalia, where a great

deal remains to be done to restore peace and organize a

viable State. The United Nations there is on the right path,

conducting the most ambitious and largest operation ever

organized in Africa. My country would like to express its

pleasure once again over the organization of this operation

in a country that is today experiencing a tragic and complex

situation. The infrastructure has been devastated, the State

has collapsed and fratricidal internal strife has engendered

massive displacements of the population.

In the face of this tragic situation and in support of the

Addis Ababa Agreement, which was the result on last 28

March of the Conference on National Reconciliation in

Somalia, the international community, through the United

Nations, gave the United Nations Operation in Somalia

(UNOSOM II) a mandate to continue the disarmament and

to work towards national reconciliation, and at the same

time, and most important, towards the strengthening of

political institutions.

We are pleased to note that today, in spite of the

sporadic turmoil of recent months, UNOSOM II has begun

to help the Somali people restore the sovereignty and

integrity of the State. It is in Somalia’s and the whole

international community’s interests for this mission to

continue and that it achieve the desired results.

I wish at this point to conclude my statement on a

hopeful note.

There is a clear awareness today that our planetary

community is inextricably interrelated, that it rests on a

natural unity based on scientific and medical discoveries and

the speed of communications. But despite, and perhaps

because of, this very progress there remains a certain

fragility in the balance of our world.

Our calling as human beings endowed with reason is

therefore to remain united and to ensure together, hand in

hand, the survival of humankind. It is our duty to see to it

that our populations live long and in good health, to see to

it that future generations derive the greatest benefit from the

experiences we have had and that we are having now, so

that, tomorrow, our legacy to them will be a world that has

not been destroyed, a generous nature, a land united on the

solid foundations of friendship, brotherhood, love and peace.