YouSaid · the spoken record

Jacques Baudin

lines on the record: 57
first: 1998-09-24
most recent: 1999-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I express the genuine hope, willingly undertaken and profoundly shared by all nations, that we cannot remain indifferent to anything that is human. I am therefore convinced that, together, we can save humanity.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“I am convinced that we have the means and the intelligence; we must also summon the political determination to do so. Thus, in order to improve interaction, Africa for its part has agreed to promote economic integration and to go one step further by creating a union of African States. This was the sense of the Syrte Declaration adopted on 9 September 1999 at the Fourth Extraordinary Summit of heads of State of the Organization of African Unity, convened on the happy initiative of Mr. Al-Qadhafi. I am convinced that the wealthy nations are clearly aware of their various and diverse responsibilities and that they will not shirk their obligations. Indeed, should they do so, God forbid, the eternal night of hideous poverty will blanket almost the entire world.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“I have particularly stressed questions of peace and development because we live on a continent where peace is threatened every day by underdevelopment and where development efforts are made precarious by the absence of peace. It is therefore important that efforts to consolidate peace in Africa be accompanied by extraordinary efforts to increase the quality and quantity of development assistance in order significantly to reduce our debt and increase the flow of productive investment to our continent and to establish, if not a Marshall Plan for Africa, at least a plan for financing its development. My delegation fervently hopes that, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, the opportunity will be found to revive international cooperation for development in order to build a more humane world.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The need for the international community to find a more global and more judicious solution to the debt problem in no way detracts from the need for African countries to manage their economies better. This attitude towards debt will be put into practice by the definition and implementation of a high-quality macroeconomic framework; by a significant intensification of efforts towards national thrift to accompany international financing; and by respect for the state of law, transparency, control and responsibility in the management of public affairs. Thanks to the guidance and choices of Mr. Abdou Diouf, President of the Republic, my country subscribes to these fundamental principles, on which the policy of the Government of Senegal is based.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Furthermore, despite the pressures within the donor community to reduce aid volumes, the economic performance of Africa and the continent's commitment to structural reform can be maintained only on the basis of expansion, not contraction: increased development assistance is essential if we are to achieve the fundamental objectives of development. Finally, despite the praiseworthy efforts of our various countries to implement economic and financial reforms, inflows of direct foreign investment remain marginal. In highlighting these major factors in the current global economic situation, I am far from wishing to shirk an enduring truth: sustainable development is the individual responsibility of each State.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“To this end, the proposals by a some G-8 countries, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and other organs of the United Nations, as well as the recent studies by the Bretton Woods institutions, are signs of a new realism, i.e., that most of the debt cannot be repaid, that the debt is a major obstacle to balanced growth in African countries, and that the current machinery for debt settlement, in particular the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt (HIPC) Initiative, is too slow, too selective and imposes too many conditions. The principal members of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must accept the 9 idea, among others, of increasing the resources for the HIPC significantly by selling gold reserves.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Given the significant efforts by the African countries to achieve their recent economic performance levels, it will be a Herculean task in terms of resources for them to achieve and maintain 8 per cent annual growth in their gross domestic product, in order to reduce poverty. We should like to take this opportunity to welcome the new international climate for finding a solution to the African debt crisis, particularly given that the total of this debt — estimated at $350 billion in 1998 — represents 300 per cent of Africa's export earnings.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Tariff barriers, sliding-scale increases in duty rates, anti- dumping measures and animal and plant hygiene measures all represent acts and attitudes that impede trade and that affect our exports — and, thus, our trade surpluses. That is why we venture to hope that the Seattle Round in November this year will take into greater account not only the concerns of the developing countries positions by removing obstacles to their complete participation in world trade on the basis of the principles of justice and equity — particularly by working to reduce and eliminate the restrictive and distorting effects that the aforementioned barriers, laws and measures have on trade — but will also take into consideration social rights and sustainable development as inalienable elements in all world trade.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In this regard, it might be worthwhile to reaffirm the commitment that joins the developing and the developed countries within the World Trade Organization and involves recognition of the need to make significant efforts so that the developing countries — the least- developed in particular — are assured of a share in the growth in world trade in keeping with their development needs. But also, an examination of the way the principles of the multilateral trade system created at the Uruguay Round have been implemented reveals that commitments have not been honoured: many obstacles impede access by products from the South in general, and from African countries in particular, to Northern markets.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“However, the developing countries will not and cannot escape the effects of globalization. We would therefore like to stress here — in particular to our African partners in various initiatives such as the second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II), the United States/Africa forum and the negotiations between the European Union and Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific — the need to encourage the efforts that have been undertaken, particularly in the elimination of the rigidities and imbalances that persist in the global economy.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Nevertheless, despite this macroeconomic performance, most African countries do not possess the basic means for ensuring sustainable growth in a future of a kind that would enable them to achieve their poverty-reduction objectives in keeping with the medium-term goals set at the World Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen, because the required rate of growth is in the order of 8 per cent per year. While it is true that the slow pace of integration of African economies into the global economy has protected most of these economies from the most violent shocks of recent financial crises, the other side of the coin is that Africa is not in a position to take full advantage of globalization, which could increase the resources available for productive investment.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“It is difficult for them to find markets for their products, they suffer from capital flight, and businesses avoid setting up in these countries. However, over the last four years, the gross national product of Africa has grown at an annual average rate of 4.5 per cent, resulting in a year-on-year increase in per capita incomes. This is particularly remarkable because the progress is attributable, above all, to internal adjustment efforts rather than to external phenomena.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Indeed, because of a lack of sufficient growth, trade tensions are threatening to increase between 8 underdeveloped countries and around them, and thus the lag in development can only increase, increasing the mob of uncontrolled emigration. In addition, the gap that has been emerging over many years is becoming increasingly clear. On the one hand we see a small number of regions enjoying a high standard of living or rapid development. In these countries the volume of trade, of interdependence and competition is increasing. On the other hand, there is a group of countries — more numerous and more populous — in which the standards of living are poor and stagnating. They are for the most part not involved in this ever-tighter network of commercial, financial and industrial exchanges.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The United Nations, responding once again to its mission to serve the peoples of the world, has, during the major conferences of the decade, provided a framework for the definition of a coherent set of programmes based on consensus. These programmes continue to inspire our common efforts towards sustainable development. But a careful review of the realities of this century now coming to a close lead us to note that our achievements have been seriously undermined by the contradictory tendencies that are a hallmark of humanity as it enters the third millennium. The lack of sufficient sustained growth in the world as a whole means that the global economy is facing great risks in the years to come.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We solemnly reaffirm our support for the Bethlehem 2000 project which has the objective of celebrating in Bethlehem, on Palestinian soil, the second millennium since the birth of Christ. Furthermore, the Israeli Government seems now to want to work resolutely for peace. We urge it to continue on this path. It is the only approach that responds to the situation of the peoples of the subregion and to the hardships connected to the constraints imposed by globalization. Before concluding the subject of peace and security, I would like to state that my country supports any move to protect, safeguard and promote the rights of women and children. Its legal code has been modified to translate that choice and those convictions into its own domestic law. I should like now to deal with the other dimension of peace: development cooperation.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In this sense, the evolution we have witnessed in the Middle East gives us grounds for hope, the hope of finally seeing a climate of complete trust and confidence and a sincere resumption of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians and between Israel and the Arab countries, with the rights of the peoples of the region respected. My country, having presided over the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People ever since its creation, reaffirms its support for and solidarity with the fraternal people of Palestine, the Palestinian Authority and its head, President Yasser Arafat, which have been struggling now for more than half a century for the creation of an independent and sovereign Palestinian State.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Allow me — and I think this is the right place to do so — to pay humble tribute to the memory of King Hassan II. Finally, we hope that with the assistance of the great Powers and the cooperation of Indonesia, the situation in East Timor will be brought under control by the United Nations in order to ensure that the legitimate rights of the Timorese people prevail. These significant breakthroughs should not make us overlook the situations in Angola and Somalia, or the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, where, in spite of the praiseworthy efforts of the OAU, there has been no serious sign of a final settlement. We must therefore continue our efforts because our only salvation lies in peace and in reconciliation.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In the same spirit, the signing last 10 July, in Lusaka, of the Ceasefire Agreement among the principal parties to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is another cause for satisfaction and hope. I would also like to touch on the Lockerbie affair in the hopes that the attitudes of the countries offer the possibility of a successful outcome. Last, but not least, my country expresses the warmest hope that the referendum process under way in Western Sahara will be completed as early as possible in accordance with the letter and spirit of the United Nations settlement plan adopted in 1991, as well as that of the Houston agreements, with full respect for the inalienable rights of all inhabitants of Western Sahara to participate in the referendum.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We commend the Peace Agreement signed in Lomé on 7 July 1999, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and President Eyadema, in the context of the Sierra Leone conflict. We also commend the Abuja Peace Agreement and the additional protocols in the context of the Guinea-Bissau conflict, thanks to the mediation of ECOWAS, under the chairmanship of Nigeria and Togo. Senegal strongly supports the Governments of Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau in their efforts to build peace, to move resolutely towards national reconciliation and to implement a policy of economic and social recovery in their countries.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“From this standpoint, in the Algiers Declaration, the States of Africa unanimously recalled the legitimate demands embodied in the Harare Declaration adopted by the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The pressing need to adapt the United Nations system to the realities of the coming century should, 7 nonetheless, not obscure current acute needs associated with the maintenance and promotion of peace in the world. In this spirit, as the international community celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Hague Peace Conference, I wish to say how much we welcome certain significant advances towards peace in Africa.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Thus, we need to be clear-sighted, creative and realistic and make innovative, broad-ranging and constructive proposals that can be translated into concrete actions taken solely in the interests of all our peoples and all our nations, which make up the family that we call humankind. In this respect, reform of the Security Council is a major test of our resolve to modernize this important body, which we need to endow with greater transparency, greater democracy, greater authority and greater legitimacy — in short, greater credibility. Many proposals have already been made, but in restructuring this key organ of the system, we need to go beyond them, demonstrating creativity and a willingness to compromise, considering only the interests of this Organization at the service of humanity.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“This session takes on special political importance because it is an irreplaceable tool in the service of peace, international security, cooperation and the promotion of human rights and is a timely opportunity for dialogue, reflection and preparation for the great encounters of the coming millennium. At the threshold of the third millennium, we should wonder and think together, in the framework of this Organization, about what kind of peace, development and solidarity we should build in the coming century. It is a recognized fact that current changes, the range of whose effects in the political, economic and social spheres cannot be foreseen, call inevitably for a deep-going reform of the United Nations and impose a need to adapt the Organization to the demands of the times.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Simple justice requires this, and the ideals embodied in our Charter dictate it, because it is in the name of these principles that other States are admitted as Members of this Organization, which I welcome. Our fifty-fourth regular session, we must all agree, is an event of great historical and political significance. Historical, because it is the penultimate session — or the last, depending on how you look at it — of the twentieth century, the century in which it was born, after two world wars and other great calamities for humankind, the consequences of which are still being felt. This century has also been one of light, with tremendous advances achieved by the human race in various fields, particularly in science and technology.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Allow me to use the idea of universality to explain and justify, if that is necessary, my country's unreserved support for the admission of the Republic of China, with its 22 million inhabitants, as a full Member of the United Nations and its specialized agencies. The Republic of China — a democratic country concerned with safeguarding and promoting human rights, a world economic Power recognized by nations, and, last but not least, a nation that maintains trade relations through commercial delegations — shares with deep conviction our common faith in the noble ideals of peace, solidarity and cooperation enshrined in the Charter. That country, for the sake of the principle of the universality of our Organization, should take its place once more.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“During the Secretary- General's visit to Senegal, Mr. Abdou Diouf, President of the Republic of Senegal, made it clear that the Senegalese Government was committed to and actively supported the Secretary-General. I take genuine pleasure and great joy in welcoming among us the delegations representing the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga, which have just been admitted as full-fledged Members of the great United Nations family. These admissions attest to and bolster the universal character of our Organization, thus helping strengthen its aims and principles.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“On behalf of the delegation of Senegal, Sir, I convey to you our warmest, fraternal congratulations; we wish you every success in your high post. I wish also to convey my sincere and warm congratulations to your predecessor, Minister Didier Opertti, on the competent, committed and authoritative way in which he guided the work of the fifty-third session of the General Assembly. Finally, I wish once again to offer Secretary-General Kofi Annan my encouragement as he continues, with energy, intelligence and vision, to carry out his delicate tasks authoritatively and successfully in a particularly difficult global context. I feel bound to say that his election to head the Secretariat of the United Nations was a source of pride for Africa and a source of satisfaction for all peace- and justice-loving countries.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In electing you unanimously to preside over its at the fifty-fourth session, Sir, the General Assembly paid a well-deserved tribute to your country, the sister Republic of Namibia, which in November 1989, under the auspices of the United Nations Transition Assistance Group, organized that land's first free and fair elections, which marked the successful culmination of the legitimate, heroic struggle of the Namibian people for independence, under the leadership of the South-West Africa People's Organization 6 (SWAPO) and its President, His Excellency Mr. Sam Nujoma. Now, following this happy sequence of events, we are now pleased to see Namibia at the helm of this historic session of the General Assembly, represented by you yourself.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Humanity has already met so many challenges in the course of its troubled history that we can have no doubt 5 now that it is indeed capable of meeting the challenges of the third millennium as well. So far as we are concerned in Senegal, under the leadership of Mr. Abdou Diouf, President of the Republic, we are ready to shoulder our responsibilities in a genuine spirit of solidarity and collective effort in order to realize our ambitions and dreams. We owe it to ourselves, but especially to the generations to come.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“I would simply like to stress that the reform process that we have all undertaken cannot possibly be brought to a successful conclusion within this situation of financial instability that the Organization is experiencing at a time when it is being called upon to act on many different fronts. The new international context, and the multidimensional nature of the challenges to be met require that we have a restructured and modernized United Nations that is endowed with the capabilities necessary to come to our help in resolving our disputes, eliminating injustices and disparities and avoiding exclusion and selfishness. It is enough for us to want these things, because we possess the resources and capabilities to attain them.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“This is why my country, Senegal, welcomed the holding last June in the presence of numerous heads of State and of Government in this Hall of the special session of the General Assembly devoted to the drug problem. Now it is important for all of us to work for the effective implementation of the important conclusions reached at that meeting, both at the national and international levels. Before I conclude, allow me to say a few words about the financial crisis and the need to strengthen the effectiveness of the United Nations. Our Organization has been in the midst of a very worrisome financial situation for several years now. The causes of this situation have been debated at length right here and it does not seem necessary for me to recall them now.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“This means, in fact, that more than ever before, we must promote dialogue with Governments, strengthen dialogue between institutions within the United Nations system and strive to rationalize the machinery of human rights. The fight against the global drug problem remains a concern shared by the entire international community because of the multiple and pernicious ties that drug- trafficking has been able to establish with phenomena such as transnational organized crime, terrorism, large- scale banditry and illegal arms-trafficking networks — particularly those involving small calibre weapons, especially in Africa. This illicit trafficking in narcotics and psychotropic substances has become a dangerous threat to the peace, stability and security of all nations, States and regions of the world at the end of the millennium.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The promotion, consolidation and expansion of the underpinnings of the State based on the rule of law throughout the world; the strengthening of national institutions for the defence of human rights; the integration of human rights into the major activities of the United Nations system; the promotion of the right to development — these seem to us to be the essential pillars of a global policy for the benefit of human rights and freedoms at the end of this century. In this context, my delegation would like to salute the major initiatives undertaken by Mrs. Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for Human Rights since she took office, particularly those directed to our continent, Africa, which are fully in keeping with our expectations.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The General Assembly?s high-level debate devoted to relaunching a dialogue to strengthen international cooperation through partnership and the draft plan for an international gathering at the highest level for development financing are encouraging initiatives, as would be initiatives for fair compensation for commodities and a global settlement of the debt crisis of developing countries. The fifty-third session of the General Assembly coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“What values of humanity can still be invoked when at the dawn of the third millennium, in a world that has become a global village, over a billion men and women are deprived of even the barest elements of a decent life? The marginalization and exclusion that haunt the daily lives of these men and women give proof once again of the absolute priority that the fight against poverty must have at both the national and international levels. This is why strong measures to breathe new life into North-South exchanges are today more imperative than ever.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“4 Miguel de Unamuno, Rector of the University of Salamanca in Spain, once said: “Under certain circumstances, to keep silent is to lie”. How, then, can we remain silent before the obvious contradiction between the incessant expansion of needs for economic cooperation for development and the constant decline in official development assistance, which is today at its lowest level in 25 years? How can we forget the persistent imbalances in multilateral international trade, whose first and foremost role was, after all, to ensure for everyone, in developed and developing countries alike, the benefits of a trading mechanism that was to be open, regulated, transparent, equitable and predictable?”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“These action plans, apart from their degree of relevance, constitute a set of formal commitments on measures that should be taken together. Without the corresponding mobilization of new and additional resources, the specific actions expected from these noble initiatives, whose grandeur and legitimacy derive their very force from the ideals embodied in the Charter itself, are liable to translate into severely compromised or dashed hopes. Above and beyond the problems linked to implementing the results of the major conferences held throughout the decade, the fact is that international cooperation for development now poses a paradox that we cannot ignore without betraying the ideals of peace and development that inspired the founding fathers of our Organization.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“In keeping with its purpose — to be a centre where nations work together for social progress through the achievement of improved living conditions — the United Nations has made a remarkable contribution to pinpointing the problems facing humankind. Throughout this decade, the United Nations has held a series of major conferences that have enabled the international community to adopt at the highest political level a set of consensual plans of action. These have laid the foundation for a new global partnership for development based upon the principle of national responsibility and the imperative of international solidarity, in the quest for a united response to the challenges that face all of us. Never before has so generous and so highly promising an approach been taken to the concerns felt by the community of nations.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Senegal will spare no effort to contribute to the elaboration of an international convention to fight the illicit traffic in small-calibre weapons. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, the universal character of the United Nations has achieved wide acceptance, and its universality gives our Organization greater credibility and effectiveness. In keeping with this principle, Senegal unreservedly supports the request by the Republic of China to rejoin the community of free nations and to be admitted as a member of our Organization and of its specialized agencies. Accordingly, we have proposed that the General Assembly reconsider that part of resolution 2758 (XXVI) that excluded the Republic of China from the United Nations and from its specialized agencies.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Ongoing efforts to bring about general, complete and verifiable disarmament represent a major step in strengthening international security. While significant progress has been made in this realm in the past decade, we must acknowledge that global disarmament, today more than ever, remains a long-range objective. Indeed, the conflicts we have seen in recent years have demonstrated that the massive destruction caused by conventional arms requires that initiatives be taken to deter their proliferation, and in particular the illicit traffic in small-calibre weapons, now a real scourge in Africa. Major efforts are being mobilized on the continent to fight this threat, but it is obvious that Africa alone cannot possibly overcome it.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“My country, Senegal, convinced of the importance of peace in the Middle East and of the need for greater progress in that respect, is actively supporting the peace process and remains committed to the achievement of peace in the region based on the relevant resolutions and agreements, which must be respected by all parties, if only on the basis of the principle of pacta sunt servanda. The time is ripe urgently to call once again on the parties involved, the co-sponsors and all peace-loving nations to ensure that fresh initiatives are taken to reconcile the widely divergent viewpoints of the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel in order to restore a climate of confidence and cooperation, which is the only possible basis for peace and peaceful coexistence among the peoples of the region.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Aware of this reality, Africans together, working in concert with the OAU and in close cooperation with the United Nations, are participating more and more actively 3 in regional efforts aimed at conflict prevention, management and resolution. I should like to take this opportunity to welcome the publication of the Secretary-General?s report on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa. In this invaluable report, the Secretary-General offers a well thought out and objective analysis of the causes of conflicts in Africa, rightly pinpointing the close link between stability and development, and finally recommending criteria, conditions and ways and means of ensuring, building and safeguarding peace in the interest of sustainable development in Africa.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Allow me to pay once again from this rostrum a respectful tribute to the memory of Matre Alioune Blondin Beye, Special Representative of the Secretary- General in Angola, and of his companions in misfortune, who included our fellow countryman Moctar Gueye, a journalist, all of whom died in an accident on the field of honour in the service of peace. All of Africa aspires to progress and to a better life, even though the conflicts it is enduring continue to pose major obstacles to a balanced and lasting economic and social development. We therefore have the obligation and the duty, as members of the family of nations, to continue to strive to bring about a world order that is more stable, equitable and just.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“And yet there have been numerous initiatives designed to bring about a political solution of this new conflict. The brotherly Governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea should agree to sit down at the negotiating table and endeavour, with the help of the current Chairman of the OAU, the countries of the subregion and other participants of goodwill, to find ways and means of reaching a peaceful solution. Elsewhere on the continent, in Angola and in Somalia, the road to peace is winding — if not tortuous — and uncertainty continues to prevail.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“I should like to reiterate that Senegal?s involvement in Guinea-Bissau is designed solely to help restore constitutional order, ward off threats to the safety of the civilian populations and foreigners, and contribute to the strengthening of stability and security in the subregion and throughout Africa. On 26 August 1998, ECOWAS, together with the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries, succeeded in inducing the parties to sign a ceasefire accord, the first step towards the normalization of life in Guinea-Bissau. In the Horn of Africa, we have witnessed a drastic downturn in the relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Indeed, the armies of those two fraternal countries — forced by history, geography and culture to live in perfect harmony and peace — launched military operations.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Thus, in the subregion of western Africa, while Sierra Leone was moving towards the total restoration of constitutional order with the return to Freetown of the democratically elected President owing to efforts by the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity and especially the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a mutiny broke out on 7 June last, spearheaded by part of the standing army of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau. At the express request of the legal authorities of that country, Senegal and the Republic of Guinea, another neighbour of Guinea-Bissau, dispatched troops in accordance with the relevant provisions of the bilateral agreements signed by each of the two countries with Guinea-Bissau.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Despite the numerous achievements recorded in that area, we must agree about how much farther we have to travel, as well as about the bold initiatives to be taken in order fully to secure international peace and security. Longstanding conflicts continue to resist our efforts at resolving them, while a number of fresh crises — a new generation of conflicts linked to an upswell in ethnic or intercommunity violence — continue to be a source of major concern for our countries, especially those in Africa.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“If we redouble our efforts and benefit from the momentum that we have created, I am convinced that in due course we will succeed in this great undertaking to restructure the Security Council by conferring on it greater legitimacy, credibility and transparency. Africa certainly has its place in this reform — a place that must be acknowledged given its history and its destiny as a continent of the future in which there is room for continued growth. The United Nations has traversed half a century, and during the course of those years we have progressively laid the groundwork for an international system that should be able to ensure our collective security. In this regard, our Organization has been and remains an irreplaceable tool for the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“In calling to mind the reforms that will enable the United Nations to become the cornerstone of a multilateral system better attuned to the realities of the twenty-first century, I could not ignore the delicate and complex negotiations under way within the Working Group entrusted with the question of restructuring the Security Council. Security Council reform is a fundamental element in the overall reform of the United 2 Nations, but we must recognize that it will not be an easy task. We all agree on the need to modernize and democratize that essential United Nations body, but we are finding it difficult to reach consensus, or even general agreement, on such fundamental issues as the enlargement, composition and right of veto. Despite five years of discussions within the Working Group, we must not abandon our hopes and become discouraged.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Indeed, through the dynamic impetus provided by the President of the General Assembly at its fifty-second session, Mr. Udovenko, the General Assembly adopted resolutions through which it endorsed and reaffirmed the implementation of the measures and proposals recommended by the Secretary- General. In this regard, I should like to convey my sincere congratulations to Ms. Louise Fréchette, who has been appointed to the distinguished position of Deputy Secretary-General of our Organization, with particular responsibility for development issues. To her, our partner in development, I wish every success in carrying out her honourable and important mission.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Last year, during the fifty-second regular session of the General Assembly, we all warmly welcomed the reform proposals of the Secretary-General, contained in his report (A/51/950) entitled “Renewing the United Nations: a programme for reform”. We were unanimous in believing that those judicious, balanced, innovative and action-oriented proposals were very timely because they were in tune with the spirit and letter of the Declaration issued on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary, which stated: “In order to be able to respond effectively to the challenges of the future and the expectations of the United Nations held by peoples around the world, it is essential that the United Nations itself be reformed and modernized.” (resolution 50/6, para. 14) This conviction, which we all shared, has today become an imperative.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)