Yemen, 1998

On behalf of the delegation of the Republic of

Yemen, I have great pleasure in expressing to Mr. Opertti

38

our heartfelt congratulations on his election as President of

the present session of the General Assembly. We are

confident that his competence and experience will enable

him to guide the sessionâs deliberations and achieve its

objectives.

At the same time, I should like to express our

recognition of the good offices of Mr. Kofi Annan,

Secretary-General of the Organization, and of his great

success in serving peace within the framework of

preventive diplomacy in order to defuse international crises

before they flare up and to protect innocent victims. I also

have great pleasure in noting the intellectual and

organizational efforts that are being made to revitalize

United Nations activities in order to keep abreast of

developments at the end of the present century and meet

the demands of the next. We wish Mr. Annan every success

in carrying out his future tasks.

The Republic of Yemen, its Government and people,

has made consistent endeavours to strengthen democratic

practices based on political pluralism, freedom of the press,

guarantees of public freedom and the protection of human

rights.

The Republic of Yemen has realized the vital

importance of carrying out political, economic, financial

and administrative reforms, together with a programme of

stabilization and restructuring. When the due historical

process brought about the unity of the country, Yemen

inherited two political and economic systems based on

different organizational, cultural and ideological structures.

The Republic of Yemen, which represents the united

Yemen, has therefore launched a process of radical political

and institutional reform intended to bring about national,

social and political integration, making democratic practices

more deeply entrenched and increasing societyâs

participation in the political decision-making process. This

includes increasing the social role of Yemeni women,

liberating them from all constraints on their participation

and encouraging their integration in development.

Naturally, bringing about economic and administrative

reforms based on an open and liberal economy, free trade

and the increased participation of the private sector requires

new legal and administrative mechanisms which may have

a negative impact on segments of society with limited

income and on the unemployed. Undoubtedly, this provides

an incentive for the provision of assistance for all the

countries engaged in this experience, including Yemen, in

order to achieve the concrete economic and financial results

that can alleviate the negative impact of such changes on

the social sectors that are unable to respond to the process

of economic and financial adjustment and appropriate

restructuring in a natural and appropriate way. That is

why it is imperative for the economic reform process to

be accompanied by a social safety net to ensure social

and economic equilibrium and alleviate the impact of

change affecting the poor, unemployed and limited-

income groups, with regard to their simple lives and

subsistence existence.

This is a task which makes it incumbent upon the

international financial institutions to recognize their

responsibilities in those areas and to intensify their

development programmes with social, demographic and

environmental dimensions. The flow of investments and

assistance from rich countries to the less developed

countries have to be increased in order to bridge the

structural gap and enable our society to integrate and

increase its positive partnership in sustainable

development.

The world today is based on integration and

complementarity. It aspires to globalization based on free

trade, free exchange and open markets. However, these

can only be achieved by regional cooperation of

government and private sectors of the countries of each

region. Thus our transition to globalization can be

achieved through the bridges of regional cooperation,

enabling us to make gains and achieve the common

interests of our peoples without disregarding specificities

or neglecting elements of harmony and regional

integration. This approach would undoubtedly help in

making concrete the spirit of fraternity, interdependence

and integration, and would provide an opportunity to

ensure that the fundamental factors for peace and

acceptable coexistence exist, with respect to all regional

parties, which will assist in ensuring a balanced and

comprehensive world peace.

In this context, we demand that help and assistance

be provided to the developing countries and the least

developed countries, in order to enable them to minimize

the negative impact of the globalization of the world

economy on their national economies and to achieve

levels enabling them to participate with the developed

countries through competitiveness in producing high

quality commodities at competitive prices. This could be

accomplished once they have made reasonable progress in

the context of regional integration.

Democracy, social justice, human rights, economic

and political reforms and serious regional cooperation can

39

only be achieved when there is peace, stability and full

security. Today, given the unstable nature of peace in our

region, we are again apprehensive lest the situation explode.

This is due to Israeli intransigence and continuous disregard

of the resolutions of international legitimacy. It is also due

not only to the Netanyahu Administrationâs continued

rejection of international resolutions obliging Israel to

withdraw from the Palestinian occupied territories, the

occupied Golan Heights and South Lebanon, but also of the

undertakings of the previous Administration of the late

Yitzhak Rabin at the Madrid Conference and in the Oslo

accords.

The current construction of new settlements; the

changing of the historical heritage of East Jerusalem,

including the attempts to obliterate its Arab identity; the

changing of historical realities and demography: all this

testifies to the present Israel Governmentâs flagrant

obstinacy and arrogance. We therefore demand that these

practices, which present further obstacles to the peace

process, be halted forthwith.

In order to prevent the region being plunged back into

the cycle of conflict, tension and bloodshed, we appeal to

the international community to take the necessary measures

to compel Israel to honour its international obligations,

pursuant to the resolutions of international legitimacy and

all other relevant obligations and agreements.

It has become clear that the policy of starvation,

deprivation and economic sanctions imposed on States,

whether individually or collectively, is of no avail as an

effective means to the realization of certain political goals,

especially in an era in which freedom, democracy, and

enhanced respect for human rights and the right to self-

determination are reaffirmed. Consequently, the victims of

this policy are the most vulnerable sectors of the targeted

States. That is why we must reconsider the policy of

imposing sanctions, and must reassess their impact,

reaffirming the importance of humanitarian values and

ensuring that the real interests of peoples are not arbitrarily

violated or threatened for reasons of which these peoples

are innocent. As we have already said, sanctions are no

longer a useful tool for the realization of political

objectives. We must engage in peaceful dialogue, and

define a time framework and agreed criteria for the

sanctions before they are imposed and put into effect. We

must also ensure that the people and the poorest social

sectors are not the first and direct victims, as is currently

the case in Iraq and Libya.

While reaffirming respect for international

resolutions, we reiterate the need to lift the sanctions from

Iraq and Libya. These have caused serious damage and

severe human suffering in these fraternal countries.

Children, old people and women have been particularly

affected.

Terrorism has become an international phenomenon,

and its effects and repercussions are not confined to any

one country, people or ideology. It concerns all nations

and peoples, and there is a pressing need for the

international community to respond immediately to the

demand to establish a political, intellectual and

institutional system at the international and regional levels

in order to combat it and eradicate the causes of this

uncivilized and inhuman phenomenon, and to deal with its

negative consequences.

In this regard, the Republic of Yemen has absolutely

rejected all forms of terrorism. Yemen shares the feelings

of every member of the international community: fear and

concern at the continuation and increase of this anti-

civilizational phenomenon which goes counter to all

human values. We therefore call for genuine cooperation

to combat this phenomenon collectively and responsibly.

My country pays particular attention to developments

in fraternal Somalia. We hope that the international

community will help to resolve the conflict between the

various warring factions and political groupings. But at

the same time we would like to remind our brothers in

Somalia that there can be no solution without the

cooperation of the Somalis themselves primarily with

regard to the solutions offered to them from abroad.

Our concern for the situation in Somalia is a result

of our feelings of fraternal responsibility, in addition to

being a duty dictated by neighbourliness, especially since

we are the only country in the region that has received

waves of refugees from Somalia and other countries

fleeing either national conflicts or purely economic

circumstances. The Republic of Yemen has paid a high

price and has sustained heavy suffering for its proximity

to the Horn of Africa.

Our modest potentialities are not adequate to deal

with this human influx into our country. We already have

difficulty meeting the needs of our own population. The

refugees have exacerbated our difficulties, and represent

an intolerable economic and social burden. The provisions

made by the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees are insufficient to meet the

40

needs of the refugees in our country. We therefore request

the international community to provide us forthwith with

assistance in carrying out our humanitarian responsibilities

towards our refugee brothers. We further call upon all

parties in the Horn of Africa and the concerned Arab

parties to cooperate in reaching realistic solutions to this

protracted crisis.

Many years have elapsed since the issue of reforming

the United Nations was first raised, especially with regard

to equitable geographical representation on the Security

Council and the formulation of criteria to limit the coercive

use of the veto. We fully support the call for the application

of democratic norms in and universal representation on the

Council in order to reflect the growth of the membership of

the General Assembly since the 1950s and the major

developments since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of

the cold war and the expansion of the horizons of

globalization — all of which make it imperative to reform

the Security Council. It is a pressing need that must be

answered if justice and democracy in international relations

are to be achieved, in conformity with the increased

contacts and improved relations between peoples.

We therefore support the Open-ended Working Group

set up for this purpose. We appreciate what has been

achieved within the framework of its mandate, pursuant to

the resolution of the forty-eighth session of the General

Assembly in 1993. We also appreciate the cooperation

demonstrated by this Working Group. We call for the

continuation of its work in order to fulfil its mandate at an

early date.

It is incumbent upon us to cooperate in creating an

appropriate atmosphere for the establishment of a new

international order based on justice, freedom of choice and

tolerance. It is our responsibility to work together for

humanity and its prosperity, and to draw ever closer to our

objective to live as neighbours on the planet.