Togo, 2000

Before

discussing some of the concerns of the African

continent and our views on some of the problems

facing the United Nations, I should like at the outset to

congratulate you, Mr. President, on having been chosen

to guide the work of our world body at this important

session. The high office to which you have risen in

your country, Finland, and the major role that Finland

plays in the world constitute a guarantee that the

General Assembly is truly in good hands.

I wish also to pay tribute to our brother the

Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, whose ability and

dedication we highly appreciate.

The General Assembly session that took place 40

years ago was seen as the session of Africa. It was at

that session that many newly independent African

countries participated in the work of United Nations

bodies for the first time as States Members of the

Organization.

Yet despite the progress our continent has made

over the past 40 years, Africa continues to be

weakened by the ills of underdevelopment. Today, 33

of the world's 48 least developed countries are African

countries. In other words, three fifths of the States of

our continent belong to that group of countries that are

lagging behind in the pursuit of development.

As the world's least developed region, Africa

suffers from a number of specific ills which hamper its

growth and for which it is important that the

international community help provide a substantial,

effective remedy. Here I would first mention two

pandemics that ravage the continent and whose human

and economic consequences are particularly severe and

alarming: AIDS and malaria. We are most grateful for

the initiative taken last January by the Security Council

to consider the question of AIDS in Africa. More

recently, the Thirteenth International AIDS

Conference, held at Durban, South Africa, took stock

of the situation regarding the advance of the epidemic

and of possible ways to control it. Members are

undoubtedly aware that 70 per cent of the 34 million to

35 million AIDS sufferers worldwide live in sub-

Saharan Africa, and that in some African countries

schools have been closed because of the ravages of

AIDS among the teachers.

In a number of countries the skilled workforce

has been considerably reduced by AIDS. The number

of orphans in many countries affected by this epidemic

is relatively high, thus exacerbating the economic and

social situation of those countries. Therefore, it is

essential that the international community rapidly and

genuinely mobilize in order to help the African

continent control AIDS and eliminate its ravaging

effects.

With respect to malaria, a special summit of

heads of State and Government of the countries

concerned was held on 24-25 April in Abuja, Nigeria,

where a plan of action was adopted to combat the

disease. Malaria kills one person somewhere in the

world every 30 seconds. The Assembly of Heads of

State and Government of the Organization of African

Unity (OAU), meeting in LomÈ from 10-12 July this

year, appealed to the United Nations to proclaim the

period 2001-2010 the decade to combat malaria. We

firmly hope that this Assembly will respond positively

to our appeal, at this session, taking the necessary

measures to ensure the decade's success.

The African debt problem was also of concern to

the OAU Heads of State and Government at the LomÈ

summit. At a session more than 12 years ago, the

African countries adopted a common position on the

African foreign debt crisis. Unfortunately, our

continent continues to be the region of the world where

the debt burden is heaviest. As the General Assembly

noted last year in resolution 54/202,

`the continuing debt and debt-servicing problems

of heavily indebted developing countries'

5

are one of the factors that hinder their development and

economic growth. This finding should motivate the

international community, especially the developed

countries and international financial institutions, to

take more courageous measures, such as the outright

cancellation of the African countries' debt. Such a

decision would greatly contribute to the success of the

efforts of our countries, which have committed

themselves to implementing sustained programmes to

eradicate poverty.

That is why we strongly support the proposals of

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who believes that the

industrialized countries should take a number of

measures for the benefit of the African countries and

other developing regions to ensure the possibility of

their making significant progress in the new world

economy.

The African continent is grateful to the United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for its

invaluable assistance over many years, resulting in the

carrying out of numerous projects. However, the

continuous decline in UNDP resources worries us,

because it affects our development prospects.

At a more global level, we note that major

transnational companies, which play a crucial role in

the world economy, are remarkably absent from United

Nations economic forums. As in the International

Labour Organization (ILO), where representatives of

Governments, employers and employees work together,

it is desirable that in the Economic and Social Council

representatives of Governments should sit side by side

with those of multinational companies. That would

enhance the effectiveness and impact of this important

United Nations body. The international community, for

its part, should prove, by decisive action, that it truly

wishes to put an end to the suffering of the poorest

peoples, the largest proportion of whom, unfortunately,

are in Africa.

I take this opportunity to thank President Bill

Clinton for having the United States Congress approve

a law making possible the establishment of a closer

partnership between the United States of America and

the African States.

I also welcome the convening in Cairo in April

this year of the first Africa-Europe summit. We place a

great deal of hope in such meetings, which can only

strengthen the existing cooperation between the

European Union and the African countries.

It is well known that our continent is not afflicted

solely by the economic underdevelopment that puts it

in last place in terms of the quality of life. It is also a

region of the world where numerous lethal conflicts

continue to sow death and desolation. Consequently,

Africa accounts for the largest number of refugees and

internally displaced persons. We are grateful to the

United Nations and its specialized agencies,

particularly the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees, for their assistance in

helping our continent to control various conflicts and

mitigate their disastrous consequences.

We must recognize very sadly, however, that, by

comparison to other regions of the world that have also

experienced bloody conflicts, the attention that our

continent receives from the international community is

somewhat meagre. We strongly urge the Security

Council to demonstrate the same concern for us that it

bestows on other regions of the world that have been

affected by conflicts, inter alia, Europe and Asia.

We subscribe to the relevant recommendations

made by the Panel of experts which the Secretary-

General has mandated to consider all problems related

to the improved use of peace operations. We are of the

view that the mandates of United Nations peacekeeping

missions should be clear, credible and achievable.

These missions must be adequately financed and

rapidly deployed where they are expected. They must

be capable of fulfilling their mandates successfully and

able to defend themselves and control all those who

would seek to hinder their action on the ground.

In the area of peacekeeping in Africa, the

Organization of African Unity (OAU) has endowed

itself over the years with valuable instruments for

managing conflicts, such as the Mechanism for

Conflict Prevention, the Conflict Management Centre

and the Early Warning System. More than five years

after the creation of these mechanisms, we believe that

they should be complemented by the establishment of

an operational and effective African peacekeeping

force. If such a force were created, it would discourage

all subversive actions that underpin conflicts.

That is why I have proposed, with a view to

strengthening that force, the establishment of an

African institute for peace and conflict prevention, with

the assistance of the United Nations and the OAU. This

institution would train African cadres in the art of

6

negotiation, conflict management and the culture of

peace.

The persistence of conflicts in Africa seriously

affects the continent's opportunities for development

and hampers its efforts to achieve unity. It was with a

view to remedying this situation that the heads of State

and Government of the OAU decided in Syrte, Libya,

on 9 September 1999, to transform the OAU into a new

organization to be known as the African Union. Its

Charter was unanimously adopted at the 36th Assembly

of Heads of State and Government of the OAU, held at

LomÈ last July. We are convinced that, with the birth of

the African Union, the continent will hasten its process

of economic and political integration and strengthen

the peace and solidarity that are indispensable to

development.

The General Assembly was right to convene the

Millennium Summit that was held here last week from

6 to 8 September. That historic conference was held to

consider the role of the United Nations in the world at

the dawn of the twenty-first century. In my message to

the Millennium Summit, I stressed two basic problems.

One related to the activities of the United Nations in

the maintenance of international peace and security.

The other concerned the stakes of development,

particularly in relation to Africa.

When the Organization was established 55 years

ago, two thirds of its current Members did not exist as

sovereign States and their peoples still lived under the

colonial yoke. The planet had a scant 2.5 billion

inhabitants, as compared to 6 billion today. Despite the

expansion of the Security Council over the years, its

composition has in truth remained virtually unchanged

since the establishment of the United Nations. To use

the words of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, this

composition

`does not fully represent either the character or

the needs of our globalized world'. (A/52/2000,

para. 44)

We therefore think that it is high time to

reconsider the composition of the Security Council,

with a view to admitting new permanent members

selected from the new economic Powers that have

emerged since the Second World War, to which would

be added regional Powers from the developing

countries.

These are a few ideas that I wanted to contribute

to this general debate.

Despite its imperfections and shortcomings, I

think that the United Nations is irreplaceable, but we

must do everything possible to enhance its impact and

influence.

In conclusion, I would like to underscore that the

African continent, despite its difficulties, continues to

be a region of great potential wealth; however, its

resources have inadequately been inventoried,

developed and exploited.

We must not despair and think that Africa will not

overcome these difficulties. We are resolved to do

everything within our power to improve the political,

economic and social situation of our continent.

We simply need the benevolent assistance of all

those who are today richer and are prepared to join us

to bolster our efforts.