YouSaid · the spoken record

Benjamin William Mkapa

lines on the record: 73
first: 1996-09-24
most recent: 2004-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
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

“Members of the United Nations must uphold steadfastly, in word and deed, the ideals of its Charter for peace with justice and for security with development for all. These common aspirations are the foundation of international law, of international order and of international cooperation. They also invest with credible legitimacy our collective pursuit of the happiness of humanity and the renewal of humanity’s environment. Working together, we can ascend to the heights to which we aspire. Only then shall we leave to coming generations a deserved legacy of a common future for all mankind.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“What is desirable for our individual countries must also be true for the United Nations. Recent developments in the reform agenda of the Organization must therefore be expedited. Our hope is that the report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change will bring forth recommendations for a firm jump forward in the reconfiguration of the reform process. The Security Council must be representative of today’s wider membership of the United Nations and reflective of the current geopolitical and economic structure of the world. There are countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America that deserve permanent seats because of their major contribution to the sustainability 21 of the Organization and to global peace, security and development. The time to bring them in has come.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“Our candidature will be placed before the Assembly for election later during this session, and we appeal for the full support of our candidature. The HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to ravage many of our countries. As public awareness grows and technology improves, so do our chances of protecting the most basic human right, the right to life. That right can be enjoyed by our people if current and future advances in science and technology are extended to the many poor who are infected with HIV/AIDS. Preventive care, access to affordable drugs and the health delivery infrastructure in developing countries all need to be widened and strengthened. On this front, too, we need help. Democratic governance is a universal norm, which has to be reflected also in the United Nations system.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“We are living with the spectre of international terrorism: the most vicious and pernicious among international crimes. The people of Tanzania will never forget the terrorist attack directed at the American Embassy in Dar es Salaam in 1998, which killed or wounded innocent Tanzanians. There should never be any doubt about our unflinching resolve to cooperate with others in combating terrorism in all its forms. Tanzania is a faithful and active Member of the United Nations, and we reaffirm our readiness to work with our fellow Members in addressing global concerns in furtherance of the ideals of the Assembly and the Charter of the United Nations. It is, therefore, with deep humility and gratitude that the United Republic of Tanzania has secured the endorsement of the African Union to seek a non-permanent seat in the Security Council.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“We fully support the right to self- determination of the people of Western Sahara. It is the duty of this body to help them realize it. We support the United Nations peace plan and call on all sides to cooperate fully in its speedy implementation. When the Middle East road map was put forward in 2003, we supported it, believing that it addressed comprehensively the issue of the establishment of a viable Palestinian State living with the State of Israel, with recognized and secure borders between them. It is regrettable that the road map has been put aside. In our view, the road map remains the most reasonable, viable and sustainable way of resolving this long-standing conflict. We condemn the cycle of violence and killings and the use of excessive force. We urge that the implementation of the road map be brought back on track.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“I thank the Group of Friends of the Great Lakes region for supporting the preparatory process and appeal to the United Nations and the international community to render their support to that process. The humanitarian tragedy in Darfur is harrowing and demands urgent remedy. A humanitarian ceasefire agreement must be promulgated, presaging the evolution of a democratic and political culture. We commend and support the effort by His Excellency Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria and African Union Chair, and President Idriss Deby of Chad. We ask for the practical, urgent and increased support of the United Nations and the international community as a whole for the initiatives of the African Union in addressing this tragedy. The question of Western Sahara has dragged on for too long.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“Its declaration of responsibility for the massacres against innocent and unarmed refugees at Gatumba was the proverbial last straw for us in the region, so we took a stand and declared the FNL a terrorist group. We appeal for the Assembly’s support in treating it as such. The first international conference on the Great Lakes region, which Tanzania will host in November 2004, will review aspects concerning peace and security, governance and democracy, economic development and regional integration, as well as humanitarian and social issues in the region. Ultimately, we hope to adopt a comprehensive security, stability and development pact for the Great Lakes region.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“They and the Government of President Kabila need and deserve our robust help. We commend President Mbeki and the South African Government for their efforts, and Tanzania pledges its unwavering support to them. In Burundi, we commend President Museveni of Uganda and the South African Vice-President, Mr. Jacob Zuma, for their dedication to helping Burundi realize a new political and social dispensation of inclusive governance, development and peace. The Regional Initiative for Peace in Burundi has made strenuous efforts to accommodate, through negotiations, all the parties in a Government of 20 national unity. Sadly, the Parti pour la libération du peuple hutu-Forces nationales de libération (Palipehutu-FNL) has refused to be part of that process.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“We have shown our new resolve to come to terms with our problems and to take the initiative and the lead in finding solutions. From our development partners, we ask in return for genuine respect for our ownership and the policy space for local initiative and leadership. We need policy space to deal with problems such as conflict, ethnicity, land and agrarian reform and institution-building, and we need adequate, consistent and predictable external support to implement the solutions we put forward. The Democratic Republic of the Congo deserves our continued and strong support. Instability in that country robs the entire region of its potential for shared progress, development and solidarity. The people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo must continue to walk down the path of peace, reconciliation and unity.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“Globalization, when properly governed, can be a force for good — a catalyst for change and for meeting the Millennium Development Goals. I commend the report to the Assembly. Responses to the challenges of globalization must begin at home. Good governance, prudent monetary and fiscal policies, macroeconomic stability, peace and security, the protection of property rights, setting priorities for poverty reduction and the creation of a conducive environment for investment and trade, both between Africans themselves and between Africa and the rest of the world — all those are things that we in Africa have agreed to address. But I must stress one conditionality: no solutions to Africa’s problems can be sustainable unless they are genuinely embraced and owned by Africans themselves.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“Yesterday, my colleagues and I launched the report of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, entitled “A fair globalization: Creating opportunities for all”. The report is a contribution by commissioners with varied backgrounds and experiences; it is also a reflection of the views of many ordinary people consulted through national and regional dialogues. It presents one important consensus: globalization has produced both striking achievements and harmful distortions in global growth and development. We all agreed that, left unchecked, globalization will exacerbate the wealth gap within and between nations, thereby planting the seeds of social instability and crime on a national and global scale. But the report also presents the prospect of hope.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“When both rich and poor countries meet their obligations, tangible progress is realized. My country is an example. Our Primary Education Development Programme, for instance, has recorded remarkable progress. We now expect to attain the education Millennium Development Goal in 2006, nine years ahead of schedule. Gender parity has been attained, and the net enrolment ratio is already 90.1 per cent. Pass rates have doubled over the past four years. That was made possible by an increased budgetary allocation to the sector, by debt relief, by increased aid channelled through our own budget and by local ownership and participation. We are grateful for the cooperation we have received from our development partners. Together, we have shown what can be done where there is political will.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“On our part, never before have so many African Governments committed themselves to good democratic governance, to peer review, to ownership of the development agenda and to the participatory prioritization and sequencing of the tasks necessary for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. We now need an equally unprecedented commitment — in deeds — to the global war on poverty in all rich countries. African countries doing their part in the global compact on poverty alleviation should not be constrained by a lack of supportive external resources. At the International Conference on Financing for Development, held at Monterrey, developed countries pledged to match stronger reform efforts in developing countries with increased support. Tanzania asks that they now show leadership by delivering on their promises.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“Only then will the political will be generated to do more for the timely attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. It is true that money is not a panacea, but the eighth Millennium Development Goal — to develop a global partnership for development — may actually be the single most important key to unlocking new initiatives and latent capabilities to enable us to attain the Goals. And a genuine partnership implies shared rights and responsibilities as well as a shared 19 commitment to be evaluated. I commend the Governments of the Netherlands and Denmark for conducting, and making public, evaluations of their performance in meeting their commitments under the eighth Millennium Development Goal.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“In this, as in other things, actions speak louder than words. We commend Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden for consistently meeting the long-established United Nations target of allocating at least 0.7 per cent of the national incomes of rich countries to development cooperation. Those countries have a broad national consensus on that matter, and their people are not in any way poorer because of it. We urge the other rich countries to produce timetables to meet that long-overdue target, to have coherent development policies and to earnestly and deliberately build and nurture a national consciousness and consensus on the global war on poverty. That war should now be a central political issue for all countries, rich and poor.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“I congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session. I assure you of Tanzania’s support as you discharge your mandate. I pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Julian Hunte, for his able stewardship of the work of the General Assembly. I commend the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, and his staff for their dedicated service and tireless efforts during a very difficult time. The Millennium Development Goals represent our vision and hope for a new global partnership for shared global prosperity and security — an ideal at the very heart of the United Nations. But we are still far off the mark in meeting many of them, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. We must further strengthen our common resolve to act in their resolute pursuit.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“Are we striving for the kind of political correctness that eschews affluence amid poverty or for that which manufactures euphemisms for poverty, pretending it will go away? In a vivid cartoon in 1965, Jules Feiffer portrayed the plight of the poor in these words: “I used to think I was poor. Then they told me I wasn’t poor; I was needy. Then they told me it was self-defeating to think of myself as needy; I was deprived. Then they told me that underprivileged was overused; I was disadvantaged. I still don’t have a dime. But I have a great vocabulary.” That plight of the poor persists equally poignantly to this day. We have spoken much; perhaps too much. The archives of this Organization are bursting with studies and ideas and reviews. Let us strive to do more and talk less in the new century.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“These are challenging times, especially for developing countries. Yet, I believe there is a ray hope for building the foundations of a more equitable and dynamic system of international development cooperation through the smart partnership approach of a “win-win” outcome for all players. As we enter the new millennium, I wish to reiterate our firm commitment to cooperating with others in achieving the goals of the United Nations Charter, particularly those relating to the promotion of economic development and prosperity, peace and security and a better world for present and future generations. As we enter the century of globalization, let all Governments ask the question: Are we globalizing prosperity or are we globalizing poverty?”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“My Government is striving to make sure that women are given opportunity to fully participate in all levels of decision-making and that they get equal access to education and access to credits on a preferential basis. We have also taken measures to protect women, girls and children from sexual harassment and abuse. Tanzania has most stringent legislation on sexual offences that provides for punishment up to life imprisonment. There is also a new Land Law providing for complete gender equality in the ownership, use and disposal of land and which supersedes customary land law. There are also laws to protect the rights of women in marriage, child custody and inheritance, which are being reviewed to address all the concerns of women. Special efforts are also being made to increase the enrolment of girls and women at all levels of education.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The international community must assume its responsibility to see this process to a successful conclusion. No effort and no sacrifice is too big to be made in that regard. We commend and encourage the decision of the Government of Indonesia to invite and cooperate with international efforts under the United Nations to stop the massacres and mayhem and to ensure that the wishes of the majority of the people of East Timor are unequivocally met. 4 We in Tanzania believe that no national or global efforts to eradicate poverty can succeed unless and until they address the specific problems related to the poverty of women. We urge the United Nations to continue promoting gender equality issues, including the provision of resources and technical assistance to enhance women’s education, health and other projects aimed at their empowerment.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“As we pledge to continue fully supporting the Tribunal in accordance with our obligations as the host country, we call upon the United Nations and the entire international community to continue providing all necessary support, including resources and manpower, until the task of prosecuting all culprits in the Rwanda genocide episode is successfully accomplished. A strong and clear message must come out of this Assembly that no war criminal will ever escape the long arm of international law. Tanzania adds its voice to the denunciation of the violent attempts to thwart the fulfilment of the desire of the people of East Timor to be free and sovereign, clearly and preponderantly expressed in a free and fair referendum. The results of the referendum must be respected and the Timorese people’s aspirations realized.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“This would enable UNHCR to begin the repatriation process, as was done successfully in the case of Rwanda three years ago. Four years ago, the United Nations established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha. Apart from the Tribunal’s early teething problems, the Government of Tanzania lauds its many precedent-setting achievements in the emerging area of international criminal justice. We commend the improvements in the efficiency of the Tribunal’s operations and management under its Registrar.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Yet even for us, the time comes when we must appeal for more help to give us the capacity to provide succour and refuge to these people. I pay tribute to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mrs. Ogata, and her colleagues for the efforts they are making to draw international attention to African refugees and displaced persons. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has done much, but it can only do as much as the international community gives it resources to do. I urge greater support to UNHCR and other relief agencies working in Tanzania, and greater support to my Government. A lasting solution to the refugee problem, however, lies in resolving the root causes in the refugee-generating countries.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“It is immoral and unacceptable that natural resources such as gold, diamonds, oil and timber, which should be exploited to build a better future for African children, are being used instead to buy weapons from rich countries and arms dealers, with which to kill and maim those very children and their parents. Associated with conflicts in the Great Lakes region is the problem of refugees. Tanzania has received refugees for over 40 years now. As I speak, we still host over 800,000 refugees, some in refugee camps and many others in settlement camps and elsewhere in society. We have always received refugees out of humanitarian concerns in the African way and in fulfilment of our international obligations. We have never turned away those fleeing to save their lives, and we have never negotiated refugee quotas with other countries.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“I urge Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Barak to remain committed to the peace process and to move with courage and vision to the next stages that will ensure the durable and shared peace and security that has eluded the Palestinian and Israeli people for so long. From this podium, I denounce the merchants of war fuelling conflicts on the African continent. Arms dealers should stop supplying weapons to conflict areas. Countries should adhere to the relevant international conventions prohibiting the arms trade, especially between non-state entities.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Action commensurate with the gravity of his insolence and his human rights abuses should likewise be taken against him. On Western Sahara, Tanzania is following closely the peace process under the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). We hope that a solution to the crisis will be found through a referendum as provided for in the United-Nations-brokered peace process without any further unnecessary delays. My delegation commends the truces and negotiated settlements reached in the conflicts in Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Liberia, even as we urge practical commitment to peace and reconciliation in the Ethiopia-Eritrea war. I wish also to commend and encourage the positive developments unfolding in Middle East.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Angola continues to experience a fratricidal war waged by rebel UNITA forces against the legal Government of Angola. Clearly, Jonas Savimbi has violated the Lusaka Peace Agreement and has shown contempt for international opinion. It is counterproductive for the United Nations to remove its observer team from Angola, as this would send a negative signal that the international community is abandoning Angola in its hour of need. The most recent summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), held in Maputo, expressed solidarity with the Government of President Dos Santos and pledged to give him moral and material support. The international community should likewise be forthright in its support for the Angolan Government and 3 in condemning Jonas Savimbi as the war criminal that he is.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We hope that these problems will be resolved in the coming rounds of talks, so that a peace agreement can be reached as soon as possible. The international community should therefore continue urging full participation by all the key players in the Arusha peace process. All attempts to wreck the negotiations, under any pretext, should be discouraged. Concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it is very encouraging that all the parties involved in the conflict have finally signed the Lusaka ceasefire Agreement. The challenge ahead is to not let the momentum ebb, but to move expeditiously to implement the truce, including sending and empowering Organization of African Unity (OAU) observers and a United Nations peacekeeping force, as envisaged.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The United Nations, and the international community at large, should facilitate and finance access to and transfer of technology, including new and environmentally sound technologies, for developing countries on favourable, including consessional, or grant terms. Tanzania is working closely with other countries to find a peaceful resolution to conflicts in the Great Lakes region, particularly in Burundi and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Burundi peace process, under the facilitation of Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere, is going well in Arusha. The main sticking point is security arrangements that would instil confidence and trust for all, as well as a democratic process involving all stakeholders.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“But what is needed is aid that increasingly enhances our capacity for ownership of the development agenda and process, and our capacity to be self-developing. We do not want the kind of aid that takes from us the initiative for development in dignity, and increases rather than reduces dependency on aid. Among other things, we need aid that will help us develop an attractive environment for private- sector investment, domestic and foreign. Technology is a key factor in the development process. The recent great strides in technology present tremendous opportunities for human development. However, this technological revolution has largely bypassed African and other least developed countries.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“I want to thank the Governments of Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, which have contributed to our war on poverty by contributing to our multilateral- debt-relief fund account. My delegation is deeply disturbed by the drastic decline in official development assistance to less than one third of the internationally agreed target of 0.7 per cent of the gross national product of donor countries. For five years continuously, from 1992 to 1997, aid as a percentage of gross national product in countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) fell, from a combined average of 0.33 per cent to an all-time low of 0.22 per cent. This trend needs to be reversed as a matter of urgency.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Nor should debt relief under the HIPC Initiative be a substitute for increased bilateral non-debt-creating aid, and neither should it be financed through reallocation of committed aid. Tanzania has established a multilateral-debt-relief fund to help it service multilateral debt so as to direct the savings to poverty-reducing activities in the social sector, such as education, health and water services. We have shown that it is possible to link debt relief directly to poverty eradication initiatives in a transparent and accountable manner that involves government, civil society and donor countries. The debt relief we have received through the fund has gone straight to cushioning the social sector budget.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The burden of debt is one of the main obstacles to the achievement of the economic and social development objectives of African and other least developed countries. These countries devote a high proportion, in some cases 2 exceeding 30 per cent, of government revenue to debt service payment, with the consequent risk of social and political instability. We welcome the various debt relief initiatives undertaken by the donor community. They provide some relief, but more far-reaching measures, including debt forgiveness, need to be taken urgently to have an impact on poverty. Tanzania welcomes the revisions made to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt (HIPC) Initiative at the Cologne summit of the Group of Seven. However, if growth is to be sustained, adequate levels of external funding must complement our economic reform efforts.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Furthermore, developed countries and funding institutions should increase their support to the Common Fund for Commodities, including fulfilment of their pledges. The United Nations should also reconsider the proposal for the establishment of a special fund to promote commodity diversification in Africa. We hope that the Seattle ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will give further impetus to the implementation of measures to assist least developed countries to become integrated into the international trading system in a meaningful way. We call upon the donor community to extend financial and technical assistance towards the implementation of integration frameworks prepared by the least developed countries.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The long-term objective of our development efforts is to improve production of quality goods and services that can meet local needs and be exported. We see trade as a dynamic force for accelerating growth and development. We are, however, aware of our limitations in producing such products for the international market. Our economies still largely rely on the production of commodities, in respect of which terms of trade continue to worsen. The issue of commodities should thus continue to be central to the international development agenda. In particular, we urge the international community to provide resources and technical assistance to countries that depend on commodities to build the capacity for vertical and horizontal diversification of commodities.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The community of nations, at the dawn of a new millennium, should rethink the mechanisms and policies that underpin the functioning of the global economy to create a conducive international environment that ensures the rapid economic development of the least developed countries. We need a system whose pillars are growth, stability and social equity, and which should facilitate the integration of least developed countries into the world economy in a beneficial way. These countries, particularly those in Africa, remain constrained by weak supply capabilities, which, when compounded by an unfavourable international economic environment, limit their ability to benefit from globalization. The trend of the last few years does not give us much comfort. From 1990 to 1996, African exports of goods grew by only 2 per cent on average.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The United Nations should also continue its role of coordinating the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and regional economic commissions. We reiterate the need for broadening and strengthening the participation of developing countries in international decision-making. Democracy and good governance between nations is as important to humanity as democracy and good governance within nations. Processes of liberalization and globalization of the world economy have profound implications for Africa and other least developed countries in terms of their position in the world economy, their development prospects, the nature of their economic policies and their impact on economic sovereignty.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Despite the positive macroeconomic achievements in recent years, the average African household today consumes 20 per cent less than it did 25 years ago. Other new, critical challenges facing Africa include conflicts and the urgent need to consolidate the rule of law, human rights and democratic governance. The United Nations in the coming century will be measured, among other things, by the degree to which these issues, particularly the development dimension, are addressed. The United Nations, by virtue of its global reach, its universal membership and its impartiality, has a vital role to play to ensure there is equity between the response to the challenges facing Africa and those facing other parts of the world.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“To its credit, the United Nations Organization has laid the foundation and framework for the attainment of peace, security, development and human rights. The United Nations actively supported liberation struggles all over the world, and we are entering the new millennium having accomplished the mission of political decolonization in most countries. Of particular gratification to Africa is the end of apartheid. We have also witnessed the end of the cold war, even though the peace dividend has yet to reach all corners of the globe and include the innocent victims of the cold war. For, as the African proverb has it, when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. Africa has unfortunately been left behind in development.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Unprecedented economic development and prosperity has been attained, with world consumption topping $24 trillion in 1998, twice the level of 1975 and six times that of 1950. But, on a world scale, the 20 per cent of the world’s people in the highest income countries consumed 86 per cent of the world’s goods and services, producing a corresponding degree of pollution and environmental damage. And a whole fifth of humanity has been left completely out of this prosperity. This century has also experienced major international conflicts, particularly the two world wars. The existence of a bipolar system driven by ideological differences, and the resultant arms race that led to the abuse of science which was the development of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, exacerbated the security situation in the world.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Kofi Annan, for the able and distinguished manner in which he has continued to manage and guide the affairs of our Organization in the face of many daunting challenges. This last General Assembly session of the century and millennium, provides an opportunity to review the past and draw lessons from it. We must build on the positive, even as we mobilize the individual and collective will to avoid carrying the baggage of poverty, conflict and human rights violations into the next century. The role of the United Nations system must also be re-examined in accordance with the new vision we have for the future. The twentieth century witnessed tremendous advances in science and technology. But the benefits were not shared widely, let alone equally.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Let me begin by congratulating you, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, on your election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session. This is an expression of delegations’ confidence in and high esteem for your diplomatic skills, and reflects also the distinguished role which your country has played in furthering the goals of this Assembly. I assure you of the full support and cooperation of the Tanzanian delegation as you guide the deliberations during this session. I wish also to commend your predecessor, Mr. Didier Opertti, for ably presiding over the Assembly at its fifty- third session. I congratulate very specially the Secretary- General of the United Nations, Mr.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“It is my hope that coming in the wake of the Copenhagen Social Summit, it will benefit from that Summit’s commitments and create the kind of impact that has long been missing in previous summit declarations and plans of action. Africa is a continent with an ancient and rich history. It is richly endowed with human and natural resources. I have great hopes for Africa and, being part of its new leadership, I pledge to work with anyone who shares my conviction that Africa is positioned for political and economic renewal, reform and reconstruction for development. Together, we can realize the dream of a more peaceful, a more developed and a more respected continent. Together, we can realize the dream of a world closer than ever to the ideals set out in the United Nations Charter over 50 years ago. 5”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Those more powerful amongst us can try to solve these problems unilaterally, but in order for their efforts to bear fruit, they too need the cooperation of everyone. That is why I invite this Assembly to embark on a mission to rediscover human solidarity and to build structures for global partnership, the better world which the founding fathers of this Organization set out to establish 51 years ago. As an African leader, I wish to end my speech by commending and supporting the United Nations Secretary-General for the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa he launched on 15 March of this year, which seeks to provide coordinated action across the entire United Nations system over a 10-year period to address the unique development needs of the African continent.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“The founding of the United Nations was inspired by the human solidarity which the world sought to promote five decades ago. It is that solidarity which our nations gathered here last year to commemorate. What holds our nations together, despite their diversity, is the common bond and solidarity we feel for each other as human beings. Today, more than ever before, we need that solidarity in order to deal with the myriad problems we all face together: the problems of poverty and underdevelopment, peace and security, justice and human rights, disarmament and the environment, international terrorism and drug trafficking and many others. All require joint and coordinated international action.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“The Government of Tanzania attaches great importance to ensuring that the make-up of the International Seabed Authority in its formative years is so structured as to facilitate the carrying out of its responsibilities in the manner envisaged in the Convention and implementation Agreement of 1994. The establishment of the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea has added a fillip to the Convention, and the election of its judges last August was another milestone in the work of the United Nations. In this connection, we express our appreciation to the States Parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea for electing a Tanzanian, The Honourable Joseph S. Warioba, as one of the judges of the Tribunal. We congratulate all members of the Tribunal on being entrusted with such an historic mission.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“My country is concerned about the vertical proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the unremitting desire of those who have them to rationalize their possession. This undermines peace. Since the coming into force two years ago of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, we have witnessed the establishment of the various institutions envisaged in the Convention. We are pleased that, at long last, there is positive movement towards ensuring the regularized use of the oceans and their resources to the benefit of all people the world over.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Difficulties remain, but we have crossed the Rubicon and, with determination, we can maintain a steady pace towards peace in these and other areas around the world. The United Nations played a key role in this task. It will have to play an even greater role in consolidating the progress towards peace. The end of the cold war did not, unfortunately, usher in the spring of collective peace and the blossoming of the flowers of international cooperation. The world is still divided — even if not on ideological lines — between those who are armed and those who are unarmed. Vast nuclear arsenals remain and their technological improvement continues unabated. The hopes for collective peace run the risk of being thwarted by the unilateralism of those who are armed with the most deadly weapons.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“4 Whether in Liberia, Somalia or elsewhere in the world, we see the need for courage and statesmanship to defeat the temptations of political unilateralism and promote dialogue and greater human solidarity. The courage to rise above deep-seated prejudices and fears — the courage to depart from traditional rigidity that has made conflict endemic in some parts of the world — is the key that will open up a new era of dialogue, political accommodation and national concord. We have seen how such courage and statesmanship can reverse long-standing hostilities and build on the realism of our shared destiny as human beings. The Middle East, Bosnia and Herzegovina, South Africa and Angola are cases in point.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“What they have done is very useful, but it is not enough to offset the burden that these refugees place upon our communities. We call upon the international community, in the name of human solidarity, to redouble its assistance to meet the urgent needs of these refugees, while at the same time addressing the long-term effects attendant on hosting them. Above all, we must help both Rwanda and Burundi to address the root causes of these human displacements. The ultimate goal must be the voluntary repatriation of the refugees to their home countries. To us, the creation of an environment that will facilitate such a process of repatriation is now a priority.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)