Zimbabwe, 1997

On behalf of the States members

of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), of which I am

the current Chairman, and of my country, Zimbabwe, I

extend our warmest congratulations to you, Mr. Udovenko,

on your unanimous election to the presidency of the

General Assembly at its fifty-second session. Your election

to that high office is a fitting and eloquent tribute to your

personal diplomatic qualities and to the valuable role that

your country, Ukraine, is playing in international affairs.

We are confident that, under your wise stewardship, the

deliberations of this session will achieve significant results.

We commend Ambassador Razali, the President of the

General Assembly at its fifty-first session, for having

brought his experience and wisdom to bear upon the

various special sessions and working groups of the

General Assembly that he presided over during the past

year, particularly in the area of United Nations reform.

May I also pay tribute to the Secretary-General,

Mr. Kofi Annan, for his vision and for his exemplary

leadership of the United Nations. I wish to commend him

particularly for his tireless efforts to assist Member States

in transforming the United Nations into a more dynamic,

relevant and effective instrument for meeting the

challenges that confront us as we approach the end of this

millennium.

Africa has consistently underlined the need for

reform of the United Nations and other multilateral

bodies, to promote the democratization and effectiveness

of the international decision-making process. Indeed, we

have maintained that such international bodies should

truly serve the collective interests of the peoples of the

world. It is in this context that we welcome the Secretary-

General’s bold package of proposals, contained in the

report entitled “Renewing the United Nations: a

Programme for Reform” (A/51/950), which has been

presented to the Assembly. These proposals merit our

serious consideration. We have taken note of those

proposals that the Secretary-General has implemented or

intends to implement, as they fall within the purview of

his powers as chief administrator of the Organization. We

have also taken note of the proposals that he is placing

before Member States for their consideration.

We stand ready to work closely with the Secretary-

General and other delegations to ensure that the reform

process is speeded up on the basis of consensus and

democratic participation. What is crucial to us is that

reforms go to the heart of the matter — namely, the

removal of anachronistic and undemocratic arrangements

introduced over 50 years ago.

The reform and expansion of the United Nations

Security Council is not only desirable but also imperative

if the Council is to ensure the successful implementation of

its global mandate to maintain international peace and

security on behalf of all States. The fact that major

geographical and political groupings representing the

overwhelming majority of the peoples of the world remain

under-represented and without permanent seats on the

Security Council is the greatest anomaly of our times.

Equally anomalous is a situation in which in this

enlightened age the wishes of the overwhelming majority in

the General Assembly will continue to be subjected to the

whims and dictates of the privileged few by virtue of their

wielding the power of the veto.

Why should a small minority of States continue to

wield so much power over the destiny of the majority

without the latter’s consent? Why, indeed, are there

frequent and persistent attempts by few States to undermine

and circumvent the most democratic and representative

body of the United Nations — the General Assembly — on

matters of crucial concern to the entire international

community? What are we to make of this? Are we meant

to conclude that democracy and good governance at the

international level should only be at the pleasure and behest

of the mighty and powerful? Surely this state of affairs

cannot continue, as it makes a mockery of the lofty and

hallowed democratic principles we profess to cherish dearly

at the national level.

The thirty-third ordinary summit of the Organization

of African Unity (OAU), held in Harare in June this year,

underscored the pressing need for democratizing the United

Nations Security Council and stressed that the process

should take full account of the position of Africa as the

largest continental grouping at the United Nations as far as

the allocation of permanent and non-permanent seats in the

reformed Council is concerned. The summit concurred with

the position of the Non-Aligned Movement that use of the

power of the veto should be restricted if it is not abolished.

However, for as long as it exists, the new permanent

members of the Council should be granted the same

prerogatives and powers as the current members.

Another area of fundamental importance to Africa

pertains to the reforms in the economic and social fields

of the United Nations. Africa is of the view that for

reforms in this sphere to be meaningful and credible they

should seek to reinforce the pivotal role of the United

Nations in development and, conversely, the centrality of

development to the United Nations agenda. We firmly

believe in the role of free enterprise as the motive force

in economic development. But any attempts to re-fashion

an exclusively political mandate for the United Nations

will marginalize its role in development, while giving free

play to blind market forces and finance capital. This is

clearly contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and

should be resisted.

The United Nations needs adequate financial

resources if it is to continue to fulfil its mandate

effectively, particularly in the light of the ever-expanding

burden of responsibilities that it has to shoulder. It is

therefore imperative for Member States to ensure that

they pay their dues and pay them in a timely fashion.

Unilateral actions to adjust the Organization’s scale of

assessment or to withhold funds from certain United

Nations programmes undermine the very foundation of

the Organization and therefore should not be condoned.

In the area of disarmament, we welcome the

adoption at the recently concluded Oslo Conference of the

draft treaty on the global ban on anti-personnel mines.

The overwhelming support that the treaty received is

eloquent testimony to the determination of the

international community to rid itself of these deadly

weapons, which have killed or maimed millions of

innocent people the world over. Africa, which has one of

the largest concentrations of anti-personnel mines and

perhaps the highest number of victims of these weapons,

is happy to join this international consensus. It is our

hope that those who remain outside the Ottawa process

will reconsider their position and decide to sign the treaty

when it is opened for signature in December of this year.

The past few years have witnessed the African

continent undergoing a dual process of economic and

political reforms. These reforms have in many countries

resulted in greater democratization, as well as in higher

economic growth rates. In the political sphere, democracy

and good governance have taken root on our continent. In

the past few years, we have witnessed the end of the

dictatorships and military governments in many parts of

Africa, and their replacement by governments committed

to the political empowerment of their people. In the

economic sphere, economic structural adjustment

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programmes not only have stimulated high growth rates of

between 5 and 10 per cent per annum, but have also created

an environment that is increasingly receptive to foreign

direct investment and greater participation of the private

sector in our economies. Most countries have also entered

into multilateral and bilateral investment treaties with both

developed and developing countries.

At the subregional and continental levels, Africa has

taken unprecedented steps to assume greater control of its

future through economic integration. The historic convening

in Harare in June this year of the inaugural session of the

Assembly of Heads of Government of the African

Economic Community was an important landmark in

Africa’s efforts to build a stable and prosperous future for

its people. The session resolved to strengthen the African

Economic Community through the conclusion of protocols

with subregional organizations, such as the Southern

African Development Community (SADC), the Economic

Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa

(COMESA), among others, which are essential building

blocks for a viable economic community at a continental

level.

For these efforts to succeed, however, it is vital that

Africa receive the prerequisite support and cooperation of

its development partners and, indeed, that of the

international community at large. We should never

underestimate the enormous obstacles that the African

economies are confronted with. Africa’s external debt

problem and the heavy burden of debt repayments continue

to drain many of our economies of the much-needed capital

for development. More resources in the form of debt

repayments than those coming in the form of aid are

leaving the continent. There is a need, therefore, for

international financial institutions to adopt a unified and

coordinated approach to Africa’s debt problem that will

help to redress the situation. There can be no better time

than now for the international community to augment our

own efforts to bring the much-awaited peace dividend to

our people.

Foreign direct investment to Africa should continue to

be augmented by official development assistance. The

steady fall of this assistance from 0.34 per cent in 1992 to

0.25 per cent in 1996 is therefore a matter of serious

concern to us. We commend those countries which have

surpassed the target of allocating 0.7 per cent of gross

domestic product to official development assistance and

urge others to do likewise. We welcome new initiatives on

Africa that have recently been announced in the area of

trade, investment and infrastructure development. These

are, indeed, a result of the recognition that Africa risks

being marginalized unless innovative ways are found to

support its development efforts.

Africa in terms of conflict situations still suffers

from a number of setbacks. The situation in Sierra Leone,

where a military junta overthrew the democratically

elected Government of that country in May this year, is

a matter of serious concern to us. The Organization of

African Unity (OAU), meeting in Harare for its thirty-

third summit, unequivocally condemned the coup and

called for the immediate and unconditional restoration of

the constitutional Government of Sierra Leone. Africa’s

message is loud and clear. The days of military

dictatorships are over. Africa cannot and will not give

legitimacy to regimes that willy-nilly flout the rule of law

and the popular aspirations of their people. We appeal to

the international community not to give solace to these

military juntas in the name of humanitarian aid, but to

stand solidly with Africa in denying them recognition.

Of equal concern to Africa are the crises in the

Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Somalia, the Sudan,

Western Sahara, Burundi and the Comoros. In this respect

we take note of, and reaffirm our support for, the United

Nations initiative through the Secretary-General’s envoy,

Mr. James Baker, which seeks to find a lasting solution

to the problem of the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic.

The OAU is working tirelessly through the

Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and

Resolution in search of African solutions to these African

problems. We call on the United Nations and the

international community at large to support Africa’s

initiatives to resolve these conflicts and to strengthen the

OAU’s capacity for preventive diplomacy and conflict

resolution.

We are encouraged by the continued engagement of

the United Nations in Angola and welcome the adoption

by the Security Council last month of resolution 1127

(1997), calling on the União Nacional para a

Independência Total de Angola (UNITA) to abide by the

Lusaka Protocol. Africa and the entire international

community welcomed the successful holding of elections

in Liberia, and we congratulate the Economic Community

of West African States (ECOWAS) on the important role

it played in helping to bring that conflict to an end.

We salute the people of the Democratic Republic of

Congo on the positive developments that have taken place

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in their country and welcome the commitment of their

Government to restore and uphold democracy and

democratic principles. Obviously, after so many decades of

dictatorship and plunder, the task of rehabilitation and

reconstruction in that country is not going to be an easy

one. The people of the Democratic Republic of Congo need

our support in their endeavours to restore peace and

stability in their country.

Indeed, basic necessities such as food and shelter,

together with peace, security and stability, are the foremost

human rights that the people of the Democratic Republic of

Congo ask of the international community in this, their hour

of greatest need. While inquiry into alleged massacres in

the Congo may be important, the lofty principles of peace,

democracy and good governance which we all cherish so

dearly, will be realized in that country only if immediate

support is provided by the international community.

In respect of the dispute between the Libyan Arab

Jamahiriya and both the United States and Britain

concerning the Lockerbie issue, the OAU summit expressed

the hope that the Security Council would consider ways and

means to ensure a rapid resolution of this dispute.

The peace process in the Middle East is in serious

jeopardy as a result of Israel’s refusal to freeze the building

of settlements in the occupied territories. There is a real

risk of reversal of important gains that have been achieved

so far in that part of the world. We call on the parties to

the peace process to show good faith and give peace a

chance.

In conclusion, I wish to reiterate that we believe the

United Nations reform process has reached a crucial stage.

We have always believed that the United Nations, as a

living organism, needs to respond to its changing

environment. It is our sincere hope, therefore, that we can

make progress expeditiously. We in Africa aspire, in these

reforms, for a United Nations which upholds universal

values and interests, attends to the urgent needs of the least-

developed regions of the world, and remains at the service

of humanity.