The Gambia, 2000

Allow me first of all to

congratulate Mr. Holkeri on his election as President of

the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session and to

commend him for the able leadership he has shown

since the beginning of our session. With his wisdom

and vast experience, there is no doubt that he will

guide our deliberations to a successful conclusion.

In the same vein, I would also like to commend

Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, the outgoing President, for the

professional and efficient manner in which he

conducted the affairs of this Assembly.

Last but by no means least, I pay tribute to the

Secretary-General for the dynamic and visionary

manner in which he has been carrying out his mandate.

I would also like to seize this opportunity to

congratulate him for his forward-looking millennium

report, entitled, “We the peoples: the role of the United

Nations in the twenty-first century”.

May I also join previous speakers in

congratulating Tuvalu on its admission as the newest

Member of the United Nations.

The Millennium Summit that has just ended was a

historic event that brought together world leaders of the

highest political echelon who rededicated themselves

to the principles of the United Nations. As the

Summit's political declaration and outcome document

indicate, our leaders considered the various challenges

faced by the United Nations, exchanged views and

explored ideas on the role that the Organization is

expected to play in the twenty-first century. I am

confident that, through concerted efforts, we, the

servants of the people, will energize our United

Nations to enable it to tackle the challenges of this

century.

Some of the important issues that were raised

during the recently concluded Summit, such as conflict

resolution, poverty eradication, accessibility to health

care and debt relief, to mention only a few, have been

echoed by many speakers since the general debate

began. An issue that is of particular concern to the

President of the Republic of the Gambia and to my

delegation is that of conflict situations, particularly

those in Africa. I am referring to situations such as

those that currently prevail in Angola, the Democratic

Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Sierra

Leone, the Comoros, Somalia, Guinea and Liberia.

In Angola, we are concerned about the continuing

civil strife and its negative impact on the well-being of

the brotherly people of that country. It is an open secret

that the intransigence of UNITA is largely responsible

for the present state of affairs. We therefore commend

the Security Council sanctions Committee on Angola,

especially the work done by Ambassador Fowler and

his Panel of Experts, to show the way forward on how

to reduce UNITA's capacity to wage war. We hope that

29

the recommendations contained in the Panel's report

will be fully and scrupulously implemented, and that

this will force UNITA to return to the negotiating table.

We are equally alarmed at the volatile situation in

the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its

repercussions throughout the Great Lakes region. My

delegation therefore strongly urges the belligerents,

signatories of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, to

adhere to the Agreement's terms and conditions, with a

view to accelerating the peace process.

Regarding Ethiopia and Eritrea, we are heartened

by the current adherence to the June 2000 ceasefire and

strongly urge the two brotherly countries to accelerate

negotiations on a comprehensive peace agreement that

would hopefully lead to a definitive conclusion of the

regrettable two-year-long border conflict. In this

connection, my delegation strongly supports the speedy

deployment of a peacekeeping mission to the disputed

area.

Somalia also continues to attract our attention.

We therefore commend President Ismail Omar Guelleh

for his relentless endeavour to broker the Djibouti

process that culminated in the recent election of

President Abdikassim Salad Hassan. We wish President

Salad Hassan all the best in his onerous task of forming

a representative Government, a Government of national

unity, and in the uphill task of rebuilding his war-torn

country. We also appeal to all the Somali factions to

put their differences aside, to put their country first and

to join in the concerted effort to achieve the national

unity that has eluded Somalia since 1991. We all

welcome Somalia into the international community

once more, as it has now started occupying its seats in

international meetings.

Nearer to home, the volatile situations in the

brotherly countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia

continue to be of great concern to us. My delegation,

however, takes heart in the Security Council's decision,

by its resolution 1317 (2000), to extend the mandate of

the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone. This,

together with the efforts being deployed by the

Economic Community of West African States, will

definitely bring about positive results very soon.

At this point, we also want to commend the

Government of the United Kingdom for stepping in

with military assistance to bolster the United Nations

troops there, showing courage and leadership when it

was most needed. Other members of the Security

Council should emulate that example and show

leadership by example.

My delegation welcomes the establishment of the

special court for Sierra Leone to try war crimes and

other atrocities. Our only disappointment is that, unlike

the case of other tribunals, funding is based on

voluntary contributions. How, then, do we expect the

Sierra Leone special court to function effectively and

efficiently? Are we serious about the need to eradicate

the culture of impunity? We also appreciate the work

being done by the Security Council to ban the trade in

conflict diamonds.

At the national, regional and subregional levels,

the Secretary-General's 1998 report (A/52/871) on the

causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace

and sustainable development in Africa remains a useful

guide in our collective efforts to resolve conflicts

around the continent and at the same time address the

problem of development.

In addition to that, the Brahimi report on United

Nations peace and security activities is indeed very

timely, but we will be doing justice to the report only if

we implement the recommendations contained in it and

do so as soon as possible.

Apart from the conflicts in Africa, we are also

closely monitoring conflict situations in other parts of

the world, such as the Middle East, the Korean

peninsula and the Taiwan Strait. In the Middle East, my

delegation strongly supports the peace process and the

indefatigable efforts of President Bill Clinton to help

the parties concerned to reach an agreement

satisfactory to all sides. We must always bear in mind,

however, that the relevant Security Council resolutions,

especially resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973),

remain the most credible basis for a just and lasting

peace in the Middle East.

If we unanimously agree that might is not right in

one part of the world, we should apply the same

principle in any other part of the world. I will refer to a

number of situations.

In regard to the situation between Kuwait and

Iraq, we in the Gambia have always maintained that the

international community should, as a matter of

urgency, find ways of alleviating the suffering of the

Iraqi people. But, at the same time, the Iraqi leadership

must be accountable for the Kuwaiti prisoners of war

and missing persons. The families of the prisoners of

30

war and missing persons have also been suffering for

too long. Furthermore, we cannot treat lightly the issue

of the Kuwaiti national archives, still in Iraqi hands.

They must be returned, as must all other property

removed illegally from Kuwait at the time of the

invasion. Let us be fair to the people of Kuwait. They

look to the international community for the justice that

they so rightly deserve.

Let justice prevail everywhere. The sanctions

imposed on Libya have been suspended, but what is

stopping the Security Council from lifting them

altogether? Libya has complied with all the conditions

laid down by the Security Council. We therefore call on

the Council to keep its part of the bargain. Still on the

subject of Libya, the Government of the Gambia would

like to congratulate President Muammar Al-Qadhafi for

the preponderant role that he played to defuse the

hostage crisis in the Philippines, in the spirit of

goodwill and respect for human rights.

We also hope that the differences between the

United States of America and the Republic of the

Sudan over the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant will soon

have a peaceful solution in the interests of all.

We also believe that the people of the Comoros

should be listening, too, so that, through the efforts

they are making to resolve locally the division existing

in their country they will reach a definitive solution, in

the interests of the continent of Africa as well as of the

international community as a whole, that will make us

all proud.

Let me come back to the issue of sanctions, but

this time I want to talk about Cuba. The unjust

sanctions imposed on Cuba for over 30 years should be

lifted, as called for by many people of good will

around the world, including some lawmakers here in

the United States who believe that such sanctions are

of another age and are not conducive to good-

neighbourliness and international cooperation. It is our

fervent hope that common sense will soon prevail so

that at long last we will see the normalization of

relations between the United States and Cuba, two

neighbours, two great countries that have a lot to offer

to their peoples and to the rest of the world.

It is in this spirit that my delegation hails the

thaw in relations between North and South Korea

signalled by the June 2000 Summit in Pyongyang

between Presidents Kim Jong Il and Kim Dae-jung. We

encourage the two brotherly countries to continue on

the path of reconciliation, which we hope will lead to

the eventual reunification of the two Koreas.

Meanwhile, we are here yet again to reason with

the Assembly about the pressing need to reconsider its

position with regard to the case of the Republic of

China on Taiwan. At this moment, when we the United

Nations are at a crossroads, when history is in the

making, when we are talking about inclusiveness,

universality, globalization, democratization — and the

list goes on — it defies logic that a country of 23

million people, with all that they have to offer to the

rest of mankind, is continuously barred from

participating in the work and activities of the United

Nations. The Republic of China has a national flag,

national ceremonies and systems that are recognized all

over the world. It is also one of the most advanced in

the field of technology and electronics, agriculture and

medicine.

Here is a country relatively small in size, but in

terms of social, economic, financial, cultural,

technological and scientific achievements, the Republic

of China on Taiwan is indeed a force to be reckoned

with, a formidable powerhouse. This country has

always espoused everything that our Organization

stands for: its purposes and principles, its aims and

objectives, its shared values and dreams. The Republic

of China is not discouraged. We must in the spirit of

democracy and justice allow it to hoist its flag as an

independent nation in this edifice of the United

Nations.

It is my delegation's firm belief that this historic

occasion of the Millennium Summit is the time to

embrace opportunities, make progress on issues that

divide us, move forward and look to the future with

confidence, rather than living in the past, burying our

heads in the sand or turning the other way. If we look

closely at the documents prepared for the Millennium

Summit — whether the one introduced by the

Secretary-General or the working draft prepared by the

General Assembly President — it will be seen that on

almost all the issues raised in these important

documents the Republic of China has much to offer.

Let us take human rights, democracy and good

governance. It will be recalled that on 18 March this

year, the Republic of China held its second presidential

election. Nearly 12.8 million people, approximately 83

per cent of all eligible voters in Taiwan, participated in

the election, vigorously contested by candidates from

31

all political parties. The opposition won the election,

which resulted in an unprecedented transition of power

from one political party to another, in an orderly and

peaceful process. After that result the country still

seeks to be a part of this house.

In the area of development and poverty

eradication, we have witnessed on a number of

occasions how the Republic of China has, through its

International Economic Cooperation and Development

Fund, been collaborating with such agencies as the

Asian Development Bank, the Central American Bank

for Economic Integration and the European Bank for

Reconstruction and Development to support

development projects around the world.

As for the crucial sector of information and

communications technology and the revolution in this

field, it is an open secret that the Republic of China is

in the vanguard. We will be talking a great deal about

the growing digital divide. We have to bridge this

divide, and it goes without saying that one of the major

pillars of this bridge is the Republic of China.

How, then, can this country be excluded from the

United Nations family? Furthermore, in this era of

globalization and liberalization, it is impossible to

understand how a leading trading nation like the

Republic of China could be excluded from playing its

rightful role in the comity of nations. The Republic of

China is one of the most successful examples of

economic development in the twentieth century and is

now the world's nineteenth largest economy in terms of

gross domestic product and the fourteenth most

important trading nation. And, yes, it possesses the

third largest amount of foreign reserves in the world.

What is even more praiseworthy is that the

Republic of China has over the years sent more than

10,000 experts to train technicians in countries all over

the world, especially in developing countries. In

addition, it has also been providing disaster relief

around the world amounting to billions of dollars. This

country continues to respond promptly and positively

to United Nations appeals for emergency relief and

rehabilitation for countries suffering from natural

disasters and wars.

It will also be useful and helpful to talk about

cross-strait relations just to show that the door to

dialogue is not completely shut between the Republic

of China and the People's Republic of China. In fact

since 1987 more than 12 million visits have been

arranged and 100 million letters and phone calls

exchanged. Last year alone some 2 million visits were

exchanged. We note with a sense of great satisfaction

that cross-strait trade totalled $27 billion. These figures

speak volumes. This is why we believe that we should

not only take note of, but also support, the conciliatory

gestures of the Republic of China towards the People's

Republic of China, especially the request for a summit

to pursue cross-strait reconciliation efforts without

specifying any preconditions, format or location. The

newly elected President of the Republic of China even

went further, by expressing the hope that the leaders of

the Republic of China and the People's Republic of

China would respect the free choice of the people on

both sides and work together to resolve the question of

a future one China.

While working to achieve that goal, we, the

United Nations, should help the process by considering

how both sides of the Taiwan Strait can participate at

the same time in the United Nations. We are confident

that, as was the case with the former East Germany and

the former West Germany, parallel representation of

divided nations in the United Nations — in addition to

contributing to regional peace and security — can lead

to their peaceful unification.

Other than conflict situations in the world,

poverty eradication is a matter that is close to our

heart. Indeed, as we begin the twenty-first century,

poverty remains our number one challenge to

sustainable human development. In this connection, I

would like to mention that about three weeks ago the

Gambia launched the 1998 National Household Poverty

Survey and the 1999-2000 Participatory Assessment

National Summary reports. The poverty survey

revealed that households engaged in farming and the

informal sectors record the highest poverty incidence,

at 80 per cent and 85 per cent respectively. Some of the

causes identified were low crop yields, inaccessibility

to credit, low rainfall, poor soil fertility,

unemployment, insufficient food, lack of income for

basic needs, poor health and lack of education. We

intend to address these causes within the framework of

The Gambia's Vision 2020, our national blueprint for

socio-economic development. The President of the

Republic of The Gambia has thus reinforced the use of

tractors and mechanized ploughing and modern

agriculture techniques in order to increase the

production of rice, groundnuts and other agricultural

commodities, in an effort to achieve self-sufficiency.

32

Efforts to eradicate poverty should also include a

health component. Indeed, as the World Bank rightly

puts it, a major acceleration of growth is unlikely

without a dramatic improvement in human capital,

particularly public health. This is why my delegation

finds the concept of the Global Alliance for Vaccines

and Immunization very attractive indeed, especially in

its strategic objectives. Let me at this juncture

commend the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for

its generous contribution towards the delivery of

vaccines in the poorest countries and for supporting

research with a view to developing vaccines.

Referring specifically to research in the area of

malaria, I am proud to state that the Medical Research

Council in the Gambia has always enjoyed the support

and encouragement of my Government. The Medical

Research Council has over the years accumulated a lot

of experience and expertise. I am sure that the Global

Alliance can make use of such experience and expertise

in carrying out its own mandate.

For us in West Africa, the eradication of malaria

is among our highest priorities. We, particularly the

Gambia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and the Republic of

Guinea, have been meeting at the subregional level to

give effect to the World Health Organization's Roll

Back Malaria strategy and to develop other preventive

and curative remedies for implementation at the

national level.

The recent breakthrough in human science

through the successful decoding of the human genome,

and the bright prospects for genome science, will allow

for the development of vaccines and medicines as

remedies for deadly diseases all over the world. What

is even more amazing about that major scientific

breakthrough is its reaffirmation of our common

humanity. The language of the book of life is in fact the

same for all peoples, irrespective of race, religion or

region.

In efforts to make the world a better place for

humankind, we also need to adopt a fresher approach

regarding economic development issues, such as the

debt burden and trade access, official development

assistance and financing for development, to mention

only a few. As one of the least developed countries, the

Gambia looks forward to the forthcoming Third United

Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries,

to be held in March 2001. My delegation fully supports

the Secretary-General's proposal to urge industrialized

countries to consider granting duty-free and quota-free

access for essentially all exports from least developed

countries.

I must add that in addressing the specific

problems of least developed countries, extra efforts

should be made to tackle the excruciating debt burden

across the board, rather than limiting the approach to a

select number of countries as provided for under the

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt

Initiative. We note, sadly, that the international

community's effort to resolve Africa's external debt

problems continues to fall short of the desired results.

The adoption of the HIPC initiative by the World Bank

and the International Monetary Fund, while

complementing global efforts, also falls short of the

expected target: complete cancellation of the debt stock

of all developing countries is what should happen.

Unless that is done, the debt burden will continue to

have a negative impact on the availability of adequate

resources to finance Africa's economic recovery and

social development.

The task of peace-building and peacemaking at

the national and international levels and the other tasks

within the United Nations mandate are facilitated

because we are fortunate to have an organization such

as the United Nations to provide the framework for

such efforts. As the Secretary-General aptly puts it in

his “We the peoples” report, the United Nations is

“the only body of its kind with universal

membership and comprehensive scope, and

encompassing so many areas of human

endeavour. These features make it a uniquely

useful forum — for sharing information,

conducting negotiations, elaborating norms and

voicing expectations, coordinating the behaviour

of States and other actors, and pursuing common

plans of action.” (A/54/2000, para. 8)

Regrettably, the Organization has not always been

in a position to carry out its peacekeeping and other

important roles effectively. This is due mainly to a

dearth of financial resources. Therefore, if it is to

assume the important role the founding fathers

assigned it in the first place, that of meeting the needs

of the world's peoples, we the Member States have to

provide it with the necessary financial and other

resources. The United Nations is expected to play an

even greater role in the twenty-first century.

33

Quite apart from providing the Organization with

the necessary resources, there will be a need to carry

out some reforms, especially of the Security Council.

We must begin by making its membership more

reflective of present-day realities. Any reform of the

Security Council must first and foremost address the

serious anomaly which excludes Africa from the

present permanent membership category. This must be

corrected; Africa must be given a minimum of two

permanent seats if and when the Council is ever

reformed. In an organization like ours, the right of veto

is a rebellion against democracy. For the five

permanent members of the Security Council to

understand the present situation as being unfair will be

a mark of their sense of equity and justice. We will

then know that they too want a Council based on

mutual respect and fraternal cooperation in the service

of humanity at large.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize once

again that the United Nations is the best legacy that the

founding fathers could have left for the peoples of the

world. It has served us reasonably well for the past 55

years, nations big and small, rich and poor. It can serve

us even better in the twenty-first century provided that

we have the political will to strengthen the

Organization so that it can carry on with the difficult

but not impossible task of making this world a better

place for all nations. That is the hope of my country.

We are certain that all together we will be able to

achieve it.

We should remain optimistic, because we know

that, as Professor Pierre-Henri Simon was wont to say

in his lectures at the Sorbonne, life begins on the other

side of despair. The United Nations was created in the

midst of despair as a haven of hope, peace, progress

and justice for all. It should also be, for all of us, in

justice and in truth, an asylum from the cruelty and

pain of the outside world.