Uganda, 1995

Allow me on behalf of the

Ugandan delegation to convey our warm greetings to

Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral on the occasion of his

election to the presidency of the fiftieth session of the

General Assembly. His election does great honour to his

country, Portugal, with which Uganda enjoys very cordial

relations. We are confident that Mr. Freitas do Amaral will

guide the Assembly’s deliberations to a successful

conclusion.

Allow me also to pay special tribute to His Excellency

Mr. Amara Essy, Foreign Minister of Côte d’Ivoire, for the

skilful manner in which he presided over the work of the

forty-ninth session of the General Assembly.

I salute the Secretary-General, His Excellency

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his tireless efforts in the

service of our Organization.

Fifty years ago, in the aftermath of the Second

World War, with its destructive nationalism, economic

and social depression and the attendant social dislocation,

the United Nations was established. It was founded by

men and women who were determined to save succeeding

generations from the scourge of war. They created the

United Nations as the only universal international

organization that would exist to cope with global

problems and ensure that the international community

enjoyed peace and prosperity. The United Nations Charter

and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provided

the bedrock for a new system of rights and obligations for

the promotion of international peace and security.

The new order, organized on the basis of universality

and sovereign equality, was intended to encompass all

nations, large and small, strong and weak, in order to

promote the well-being of all peoples. The United Nations

thus emerged as a beacon of hope out of the ruins and

darkness of the Second World War. Today this vision

remains as valid as it was 50 years ago. It is for that

reason that we reaffirm our confidence in the

Organization and its global mandate.

In the five decades of the existence of the United

Nations, the world has witnessed remarkable changes. The

communications revolution and the globalization of the

world economy have transformed the world into a global

village and have increased interdependence among

nations. The cold war, which dominated the post-War era,

ended, with the favourable dramatic transformation of

East-West relations. Over 100 States which were colonial

dependencies in 1945 achieved independence. We also

witnessed the birth of a free, non-racial and democratic

South Africa and the elimination of the obnoxious system

of apartheid.

While the end of the cold war has reduced tension

between the major Powers and has facilitated the resolution

of a number of regional conflicts, we continue to witness

the proliferation of intra-State conflicts. These are new

challenges which call for more innovative approaches and

which underscore the continuing relevance of the United

Nations.

We believe that the United Nations should address in

a concrete and decisive manner the issue of socio-economic

development, without which peace and security cannot be

sustained. The United Nations and the international

community have to renew their resolve to eradicate poverty

and deprivation. This spectre of poverty and deprivation is

rampant in Africa and in the least developed countries. We

should act collectively and decisively to change this

situation. The fiftieth anniversary celebrations are a fitting

occasion to make this solemn commitment.

It is no coincidence that our region, Africa, which is

the least developed in the world, is also the most affected

by strife and conflict. In order to put an end to this we need

to foster a comprehensive approach which addresses the

root causes of these conflicts and consolidates and

guarantees durable peace and security. To this end, we

must, first of all, boost our capacity to anticipate and

prevent conflicts before they occur, through preventive

diplomacy. Secondly, we should be prepared to respond

swiftly to emergency situations. And lastly, we must

consolidate the peace by putting in place recovery and

rehabilitation programmes in order to create the economic

conditions for peace and stability.

In addition to this, there should be increased

recognition of the role of the affected regions in the

formulation of appropriate responses. It is for this reason

that we consider the establishment of the Organization of

African Unity mechanism for conflict prevention,

management and resolution a timely and appropriate

initiative. The Organization of African Unity decision to put

in place a Central Organ for that mechanism was an equally

positive development. We appeal to the international

community to render the requisite financial and technical

support to complement Africa’s efforts to make these

institutions work.

We salute the return of peace to Cambodia, Haiti,

Mozambique and Angola, and we are encouraged by the

positive developments in Liberia, Bosnia and Herzegovina

and the Middle East. We commend the steps being taken

by the Government in Rwanda to restore normalcy and

national reconciliation, and we call for expeditious and

full activation of the International Tribunal for Rwanda.

We believe that it is possible to contain the situation

in Burundi and avoid the replication of the genocide that

was perpetrated in Rwanda last year. We continue to be

concerned about the situation in Somalia and call for

reconciliation among the parties to the conflict there.

As regards Western Sahara, we urge all parties to

exercise the statesmanship necessary to prepare the way

for a just and durable solution. In order to consolidate and

give hope to all these troubled parts of the world the

international community must render all necessary

support. We in Uganda will continue to contribute to

conflict resolution, peacemaking and peace-keeping,

within our capabilities.

The threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of

mass destruction remains a matter of grave concern to this

Organization. We welcome the conclusion of the Review

and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on

the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). This

should strengthen the non-proliferation regime. If that is

to be fully realized, it should be complemented by the

entry into force of the Convention on the Prohibition of

the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of

Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction. It is

deplorable that, in spite of the indefinite extension of the

NPT, some countries have continued to carry out nuclear

tests. This goes against the letter and the spirit of the

understanding on the indefinite extension of the

non-proliferation Treaty.

We note the progress made so far in the negotiations

on a comprehensive test-ban Treaty, and we urge its early

conclusion. We welcome various regional initiatives

aimed at establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones and we

support the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone

in Africa as a contribution to global disarmament efforts.

In both its domestic and its foreign policy, Uganda

accords high priority to the observance of human rights.

We have entrenched in the new Constitution a human

rights commission as an institutional framework for the

development and observance of human rights. We wish

to express our appreciation to all countries and institutions

that have supported us in our efforts to develop and

strengthen human-rights monitoring and enforcement

capabilities.

We have just completed the process of establishing a

Constitution, aimed at consolidating the rule of law. The

new Constitution was enacted on 22 September 1995 by a

democratically elected Constituent Assembly and is due to

be promulgated shortly. The Constitution paves the way to

the holding of general and presidential elections, which are

scheduled for early next year. This will enhance the

empowerment of the people to take charge of their own

governance and their own destiny.

The Government has made efforts to empower our

people, especially women, young people and other

vulnerable groups. Within the framework of the bottom-up

Resistance Council system, the population has been

mobilized and provided with modest capital —

entandikwa — as part of our national endeavour to create

productive and income-generating opportunities in order to

improve the earning capacity of the family and, thus,

improve the living conditions of the people.

As we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the United

Nations, we should reaffirm our commitment to the primacy

of the democratic principle at all levels, including that of

the United Nations. It is in this context that Uganda

supports restructuring of the Security Council to make it

more transparent and democratic in its decision-making, and

more representative of the increased membership of the

United Nations.

In the same vein, we urge that the Bretton Woods

institutions take into account the problems, concerns and

aspirations of developing countries in the formulation and

design of policies and programmes in order to respond to

their social and economic needs.

Many developing countries continue to be adversely

affected by the uneven and inequitable trends in the global

economy. These trends have widened further the gap

between the rich and the poor countries. The socio-

economic situation in Africa is critical and continues to

deteriorate. It is characterized by a weak physical and

institutional infrastructure, underdeveloped human

resources, epidemics and disease, lack of adequate shelter,

poverty and deprivation. All these factors undermine peace

and stability, and this, in turn, hampers growth and

development.

We have undertaken bold economic and political

reforms in Uganda with a view to creating an

environment conducive to the consolidation of social and

economic progress. These reforms have been

characterized by the attainment of basic macro-economic

stability and the enhancement of democracy and the rule

of law, and they have stimulated reasonable economic

growth and social progress. In spite of these modest

achievements our countries continue to depend heavily on

the export of primary commodities, which do not attract

fair prices in international markets. There has also been

a steady decline in the availability of both domestic and

external resources for development. To compound the

situation, most of our countries are saddled with heavy

debts, the servicing of which is no longer sustainable.

All these and other factors have contributed to the

marginalization of Africa and have made it difficult for

the continent to benefit from the positive impulses of

globalization and the liberalization of world trade. These

issues were reviewed at the high-level segment of the

Economic and Social Council, which addressed the theme

of African development and implementation of the United

Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in

the 1990s, and in the ongoing discussion here at the

United Nations about the mid-term review of the Global

Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries

for the 1990s.

The two meetings agreed that the United Nations

New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s

and the global Programme of Action for the Least

Developed Countries for the 1990s remained largely

unimplemented. We should seize the opportunity provided

by the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations to decide

on concrete actions that will give hope to the peoples of

Africa and of the least developed countries.

The stagnation and decline in official development

assistance (ODA) are disturbing. We are equally

concerned at the wavering commitment towards the

eleventh replenishment of the international development

assistance fund. We urge our development partners to

fulfil the internationally agreed obligations with regard to

official development assistance. This would be a fitting

and tangible show of solidarity with Africa and, indeed,

the least developed countries.

Our external indebtedness and debt-servicing

obligations have reached unsustainable levels. We

therefore call for an urgent once-and-for-all development-

oriented initiative on all types of debts, which could

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include the following: first, an enhancement of the Naples

terms and an improvement in its accessibility; and,

secondly, a significant initiative on multilateral debts,

including a softening of the financing terms of International

Monetary Fund (IMF) loans to make it IDA-comparable.

These initiatives could be achieved through the sale of IMF

gold stocks and by creating an appropriate debt-relief

facility. We believe these actions will release much-needed

resources, which are currently going into the debt-servicing

of development activities, including the eradication of

poverty.

At the moment Africa accounts for a meagre

2.4 per cent of world merchandise trade. In the context of

the Uruguay Round agreements, it is estimated that the

continent could lose up to $2.6 billion annually in the

course of the initial years of the implementation of the

agreement. By contrast, global trade will be boosted by

$500 billion annually. The legitimate concerns of Africa

and the least developed countries have been identified and

specific measures to address them have been recommended

by both the Ministerial Decision of Marrakesh and the

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

(UNCTAD). For Africa to benefit from the liberalization of

world trade, these measures, including capacity-building,

compensation, enhanced-market-access provisions and

financial assistance towards institutional and economic

transformation, must be implemented fully and without

delay.

To assist in the follow-up and implementation of the

Uruguay Round agreements, two institutions are significant

and must be strengthened and supported — UNCTAD as

the institution with a specific focus on trade and

development issues, especially as they relate to developing

countries; and the United Nations Industrial Development

Organization (UNIDO) because of its role in the promotion

of industrialization.

We note the ongoing discussions under the open-ended

ad hoc Working Group of the General Assembly on an

Agenda for Development. It is our hope that this process

will generate specific measures and commitments to address

the specific problems of developing countries. We also

hope that it will help to forge consensus on development

which takes into account, and builds on, the commitments

and programmes of action already agreed on in the series

of United Nations conferences that have been held since

1990.

Uganda is concerned about the serious problem posed

by the rapid growth and spread of water hyacinth on Lake

Victoria and other lakes and rivers in the Nile valley.

This has adversely affected the ecological balance of our

waters and the livelihood of our populations, who depend

on fishing as a means of survival. Besides, the hyacinth

is threatening to choke the Owen Falls Dam — our only

major source of hydroelectric power. It has disrupted our

water transportation system, which is very important for

a land-locked country such as Uganda. We make an

urgent appeal to the international community to extend

support to enable us to address the problem of water

hyacinth.

We consider South-South cooperation to be an

important aspect of development cooperation. The sharing

and pooling of information, knowledge, markets and

resources are some of the ways in which developing

countries can promote their growth and development. To

this end we are active participants in all arrangements for

cooperation in our subregion and support the

establishment of the African Economic Community. We

believe that these arrangements and the institutions

established to promote them, such as the South Centre,

should be supported by the international community.

The United Nations has over the years provided a

forum for intensive dialogue on all issues. Through a

series of global conferences, it has helped to forge

international consensus on global problems — issues such

as the environment, population, the status of women,

human rights, development, and many more. Its

specialized agencies have made an invaluable contribution

in their respective spheres of activity and have provided

humanitarian and development assistance to many parts of

the world. In recent years, despite drastic limitations on

personnel and resources, the United Nations has

responded to the dramatic rise in the demand for peace-

keeping and other emergency operations throughout the

world. These are laudable accomplishments, which should

strengthen our resolve and our confidence in support of

the Organization.

As we stand in the twilight of the twentieth century

and approach the dawn of the new millennium, we should

use the occasion provided by the fiftieth anniversary of

the United Nations to strengthen the Organization. We

should demonstrate our dedication to the Organization and

its component parts by providing it with the resources

necessary for the accomplishment of its immense

mandate. Our challenge is to bequeath to succeeding

generations a democratic, transparent and more effective

United Nations.

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