Togo, 2003

Again this

year, we are meeting to assess our actions and to define

approaches that can breathe new life into the

Organization. Far from becoming a routine, our annual

meeting is the high point in the life of the

Organization, in that it offers to each Member State,

through a frank and constructive debate, an opportunity

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to make its contribution to the building of peace and

security, which are indispensable to the just and lasting

development of our countries. It is also an opportunity

for us to reaffirm the paramount role of the United

Nations in the world and to find appropriate ways to

strengthen the Organization further.

Before I proceed, let me express — on behalf of

the President of the Togolese Republic, His Excellency

Mr. Gnassingbé Eyadema, and of the Government and

the people of Togo, whom I have the honour to

represent at this rostrum — my warm congratulations

on the election of Mr. Julian Hunte as President of the

General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session. Our

congratulations go also to the other members of the

Bureau. They can be assured of the full availability and

cooperation of the Togolese delegation. I should also

like to express our appreciation and profound gratitude

to Mr. Hunte’s predecessor, Mr. Jan Kavan, who led the

work of the fifty-seventh session of the Assembly with

dexterity and skill. To the Secretary-General, we

reaffirm how much we admire him for the work that he

continues to lead at the head of the Organization.

This General Assembly session is taking place at

a particular time of evolution for the United Nations.

Indeed, in the light of the grave events being

experienced by today’s world, the United Nations

needs more than ever before to be strengthened so that

it can fully accomplish the primary tasks entrusted to it

by the Charter: inter alia, maintaining international

peace and security and serving as a forum where the

efforts of nations can be harmonized towards the

achievement of collective development and shared

well-being. It is obvious that the Organization’s

purposes and principles retain all their relevance and

remain guideposts for action on the part of the

international community.

In my delegation’s view, this session must

intensify its reflection with a view to defining new

approaches that will enable the United Nations to

search for more viable and lasting solutions to the

problems of peace, security and development, which

daily challenge the entire international community. We

must therefore support United Nations actions,

especially at a time when peoples are aspiring to more

freedom and democracy and to greater involvement in

the management of civic affairs.

The democratic wind that is blowing through our

country is far more than an irresistible movement for

renewal; it holds immense hopes for our people. For

Togo, that is what has justified the people’s support for

the political reform that the Government has been

undertaking for more than a decade and a half. Here, I

should like to recall the faith and determination with

which the Togolese Government — spurred on by of its

head of State — is striving to build a democratic

society that will take everyone’s legitimate aspirations

into account and that is rooted in the country’s

sociological realities. In essence, we are engaged in

this democratization process in the conviction that the

task — which will be long-term — requires much

resolve, patience and self-sacrifice.

From this rostrum, I should like to stress that,

through the recent presidential election — which was

free, honest and fair in the general view of

observers — a broad majority of the Togolese people

demonstrated their political maturity and their keen

sense of the general interest, which must take

precedence over partisan and personal interests. In any

event, I can assure the Assembly that the Togolese

people — who know how to go the extra mile — are

determined to move forward. The Government, for its

part, is resolved to continue the process of

democratization and establishing the rule of law,

strengthening its foundations through the local and

senatorial elections whose preparations are now under

way.

One can never emphasize enough that the

difficulties related to the whole democratization

process are not limited to one country or to a specific

group of countries; they are inherent in any endeavour

whose objective is to involve people in the

management of public affairs. The path towards

democracy is long and fraught with pitfalls, but we are

working tirelessly to provide the country with

democratic institutions which are indispensable to the

proper functioning under a rule of law. The quest for

democracy — a contemporary development that Togo

fully endorses — is a complex undertaking that

requires time. Indeed, democracy can take shape only

in an environment of peace and security, which alone

can guarantee gradual assimilation of democratic

values that are well understood and that emanate from

the wisdom of the culture and traditions of the peoples

concerned. In that spirit, Togo is striving to establish

the rule of law in the hope that we will be understood

by our partners.

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Today, we can affirm that, despite the difficulties

besetting our march towards the establishment of

democracy, encouraging and concrete results have been

achieved. Above and beyond institutional development,

ensuring full human rights in all their aspects is a

paramount necessity. Here, we wish to emphasize the

Togolese Government’s primary concern to guarantee

and promote the economic, social and cultural rights of

all Togolese citizens. The realization of those rights is

of particular importance, for in them lie the interests of

democracy and the stability of the Republic’s

institutions.

Indeed, if one takes a careful look at Africa’s

contemporary history, one will note that the many

sudden changes and various attempts challenging

democratic institutions in some countries result less

from a misunderstanding of the democratic process

than from the economic and financial difficulties felt

by various social strata. The success of the democratic

undertaking is therefore a function of the economic

possibilities of the States that are engaged in it, and

establishing institutions requires considerable

resources that our countries cannot muster at the

current stage of their development without foreign aid.

If that observation is universally shared, why impose

sanctions against — and suspend cooperation with — a

country that, like many other States, has encountered

difficulties in implementing its democratization policy

and is undertaking notable efforts to establish the rule

of law? Does my country, Togo, deserve the treatment

that it has received for the past 10 years?

I would like, once again, to appeal for the

resumption of cooperation with Togo. That is the

appeal of an entire people. Peace and security, which

reign in Togo, and the outstanding efforts to ensure

economic and social development, despite the

suspension of aid, clearly support the expectations of

the Togolese people.

While the elimination of poverty is considered an

essential task to be tackled to help a people or a

country rebuild, it is also the same thing as giving it the

means to consolidate democracy, which is essential to

build a more just and peaceful world.

The need for solidarity, justice and equity must

lead the international community, particularly the

European Union and other development partners, to

reconsider their position and to commit to supporting

the reconstruction effort in Togo, a country that has

made peace and security the very foundation of its

internal and external policies.

That said, Togo believes firmly that the use of

sanctions, if not properly measured and without time

limits, will only increase people’s poverty, particularly

that of women, the elderly and children. Such sanctions

provide, therefore, fertile ground for disorder and

anarchy. The Assembly must, therefore, think about

this question more deeply.

Our faith in peace and security is reflected in the

concrete results of a bold and visionary economic

policy, which is carried out untiringly, despite adverse

times. This conviction is also justified by the fact that

peace and social cohesion remain, undoubtedly, the

basic factors, without which any socio-economic

development would be carried out ineffectively and

with only illusory results. Peace and security are,

therefore, priorities for all countries, whether they are

in Africa or elsewhere in the world.

At the African level, the head of State of Togo is

very engaged in the process of conflict settlement. By

way of example, let me recall prior outstanding and

effective mediation efforts in which he played a role in

settling crises that have afflicted Chad, Sierra Leone,

the Great Lakes region, Guinea-Bissau and, most

recently, Côte d’Ivoire.

Regarding its contribution to peacekeeping

operations, I wish to recall that Togo is contributing in

a meaningful and active way to the deployment of

military or police contingents at the subregional level

or in United Nations peacekeeping operations; in

Namibia in 1989, in Rwanda in 1993, in Haiti in 1993,

in the Central African Republic in 1997, in Guinea-

Bissau in 1999, and recently in Côte d’Ivoire and

Liberia.

With regard to Liberia, we welcome the

establishment by the Security Council, on 19

September 2003, of the United Nations Mission in

Liberia, which will be deployed on 1 October — in just

a few hours. It will contribute to supporting in a

meaningful way the peacekeeping force of the

Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS).

My country, which contributed to restoring that

peace by sending a contingent, urges the wealthy

countries to contribute to financing the United Nations

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force in order to provide it with the necessary means to

accomplish its mission.

In the Great Lakes region, particularly the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Togolese

Government hopes ardently that the new stage,

characterized by the establishment of a new

Government and other transitional institutions, will

lead to stability, unity and national reconciliation.

In Burundi, my country welcomed the significant

progress made on the basis of the Arusha Agreement,

and it urges the parties to the conflict to work

resolutely toward restoring peace to the country. Togo

is very involved in the settlement of disputes in Africa,

demonstrating clearly its firm determination to

contribute to maintaining and to consolidating peace in

the African continent. It was in that context that the

President of the Togolese Republic advocated the

establishment of an African peacekeeping force at the

1994 summit of the Organization of African Unity.

It is worth noting that that idea made headway in

the Organization of African Unity, as is attested by the

adoption at Durban, South Africa, of a protocol on the

establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the

African Union, which demonstrates the determination

of Africans to be the builders themselves of peace in

Africa. It is also comforting to note that, within the

context of that protocol, the establishment of a pre-

positioned African peace force and a continental early

warning system are taking shape.

My country is committed to making its

contribution to the implementation of this collective

approach to questions of defence, peace and security in

Africa, and calls on the international community to

firmly support the African continent with a view to

guaranteeing the success of this effort.

Outside of Africa, we are constantly watching

Iraq and the Middle East, always in the grip of

violence. Regarding the Middle East in particular, my

country considers that the definitive settlement of the

Palestinian question, which is at the heart of the

conflict in the region, necessarily requires the cessation

of violence and counter-violence and consideration of

the legitimate rights of both people — the right of

Israel to live in full security within internationally

recognized borders and that of the Palestinian people to

fully enjoy their national rights, including the

establishment of a State.

In that context, we encourage Israelis and

Palestinians to pursue dialogue, with a view to

achieving a negotiated and comprehensive settlement

of the Middle East question.

Despite a new environment conducive to

economic expansion, poverty continues to increase and

remains a striking and paradoxical feature of our era.

Peace and security will constantly be threatened if

measures of justice are not adopted to push back the

borders of poverty that weaken the foundations of our

society.

The economic situation of developing countries,

particularly in Africa, is a matter of great concern. The

external debt burden, instability in export income and

the devastating effects stemming from deterioration in

terms of trade have largely contributed to aggravating

the deterioration of socio-economic conditions in many

African countries.

Speaking of international trade, it is unfortunate

to note that, despite liberalization of the economy,

industrialized countries continue to practice

protectionist measures in the industrial and agricultural

sectors. These measures, particularly harmful to

developing countries, particularly African countries,

impede the efforts made to restore increased export

income.

Like many other delegations, Togo demands,

therefore, that protectionist practices and subsidies be

ended. That would contribute significantly to the

development of poor countries. We believe that

globalization must be accompanied by a greater spirit

of solidarity and by a policy aimed at the purchase of

products from the South at fairer and more lucrative

prices.

In that regard, the Togolese Government wishes

to emphasize that, if they are to benefit all, the rules of

the World Trade Organization (WTO) must take into

account the deep aspirations of developing countries,

which demand that they be able to participate in

international trade in conditions of equality and justice,

as recently emphasized at Cancún.

At a time when our continent is doing its utmost

to make the African Union the priority instrument to

ensure peace and security and economic and social

prosperity, the international community must become

more involved to assist economic recovery efforts of

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our States, in order to meet the challenges they face,

such as poverty, the AIDS pandemic and malaria.

It is important that our common Organization

mobilize its efforts even more in order to fight the evils

that afflict the world and make it vulnerable. Terrorism

would definitely be included among those evils. The

terrible events of 11 September 2001 and the recent

deadly attacks against the United Nations headquarters

in Iraq and elsewhere, still alive within us, compel us

to act promptly to eradicate this evil. My country,

which has frequently been the victim of terrorist

aggression, in 1977, 1985, 1986, 1993, 1994 and 1998,

recognizes the importance of that challenge. This task

should be one of our highest priorities if we wish to

give future generations a sound world, in which respect

for human dignity, love and fraternity are the

foundation.

In order to achieve those aims, the United

Nations must assume greater responsibility and provide

more resources. It certainly needs to be substantially

reformed. We would like to welcome the relevant

proposals of the Secretary-General to establish a panel

of eminent personalities from civil society to address

this issue. We remain convinced that our actions, taken

together, will lead to the reign of a society free from

selfishness, violence, terrorism, disease and the threat

of nuclear confrontation. May the work of this session

lead each of our States to resolutely follow the path

towards peace and ensure that all peoples, without

discrimination, can enjoy the fruits of progress made

by humanity in a climate of tolerance, justice,

fraternity and solidarity.