Madagascar

Sharing: this will be the theme of my statement from this rostrum, because at the end of this millennium, when globalization rhymes with poverty, insecurity, social ills and natural disasters, the culture of sharing should, more than ever, guide our actions. I want to share, first of all, Mr. President, our satisfaction at seeing you conduct the proceedings of this fifty-fourth session. Along with everyone else, and on behalf of the delegation of Madagascar, I would like to share my profound conviction that your reputation on the international scene is an asset that will guide our discussions towards encouraging results. A talented diplomat and a worthy representative of a people that has become a symbol of heroism and patriotism, you enjoy our confidence, our support and our admiration. We would also like to pay tribute to your predecessor, Minister Didier Opertti of Uruguay, for having held and passed on the torch that he carried with all the competence and determination one would expect of him. Furthermore, to the Secretary-General we offer thanks and recognition for his devotion and wise dynamism. He has known how to be the spokesman for aspirations of harmony, justice and progress. Under his enlightened guidance and leadership, our Organization is today well prepared to order the twenty-first century. I wish to join my voice to those of previous speakers in greeting and welcoming the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga, which have just enlarged our United Nations community. Let them share with us the noble ideals that brought us together and keep us together: the equality of peoples under the law, respect for the sovereignty of every State, democracy and peace. Sharing with everyone, our pride in belonging to the great family of the United Nations, our forum for meeting, discussion, decision-making and solidarity; sharing the values that provide the foundations for our international community; and sharing in the vital programmes of cooperation carried out synergistically among all the different actors and constituents of our structure and system — these, specifically, are the sources of our satisfaction. Today, less than 100 days from the new century and the new millennium, we are keenly aware of the timeliness of our discussions. Our fifty-fourth session is of particular significance in that it offers all of us the opportunity not only to undertake a retrospective examination of the major events of the century, but also to seek ways and means to inject renewed dynamism into future international relations. The commitments we made at the fifty-third session of the General Assembly must be implemented as rapidly as possible. We can achieve this through concerted efforts and our shared determination to succeed. However, to do this, we must proceed urgently to apply the necessary measures for the restructuring of our Organization. 5 We reiterate our support for the position of the Organization of African Unity regarding the need to expand the Security Council. The restructuring of that organ must be based on the principles of democracy, transparency and equitable geographic distribution. On the question of the veto, in our view there is no room for equivocation: either it must be extended to all permanent members or it must be abolished. Our presence and our interactive participation in the concert of nations prompts us to share our thinking on certain subjects that constitute challenges of the highest priority at the end of the century, particularly the questions of armed conflict, the maintenance of peace, disarmament, international terrorism, democracy and human rights, and human and socio-economic development. While accelerating the integration of our global society, the end of the era of ideological confrontation has been conducive to the proliferation of conflicts of a political, socio-economic, ethnic, cultural or religious nature. Is there any need to stress that in all these conflict situations the most vulnerable sectors of society — especially children, women and the elderly — are the first victims. Madagascar therefore shares the general satisfaction with the adoption by the Security Council of resolutions 1261 (1999) and 1265 (1999), on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. There are some signs of satisfaction and hope: the signing last 4 September of the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum; the signing in Lomé on 7 July 1999 of a Peace Agreement for the conflict in Sierra Leone; and the 10 July 1999 signing of the Ceasefire Agreement between the principal parties to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nonetheless, we note that, unfortunately, many hotbeds of tension remain or are being created throughout the world. The tragic situations in Angola, Somalia, Afghanistan and Kosovo are clear examples of this. As regards East Timor, Madagascar pays tribute to the courageous efforts of the United Nations Mission in East Timor during the electoral process. We particularly welcome the recent adoption of Security Council resolution 1264 (1999), on decisive measures to put an end to the crisis and to ensure strict respect for human rights. As regards Western Sahara, Madagascar endorses the initiative of the United Nations to organize a free, honest and impartial referendum, as well as the extension of the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara until 14 December 1999. We in Madagascar have lived in peace, but we have always been aware of the need to preserve the Indian Ocean as a zone of peace, and thus we are concerned about the situation in the Comoros, our close neighbour. We therefore welcome the opportunity to have hosted, in April this year at Antananarivo, the Comorian inter-island conference, under the aegis of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). We urge the international community to maintain the efforts to implement the Antananarivo accord so as to bring about a democratic and unified Comorian state. Last year marked the fiftieth anniversary of United Nations peacekeeping operations. We salute the initiatives for cooperation between the United Nations and the OAU and between the European Union, the OAU and subregional organizations such as the Southern African Development Community and the Economic Community of West African States. Nevertheless, in our view these actions should be in keeping with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, such as respect for the sovereignty of States, respect for territorial integrity and non-intervention in internal affairs. While we recognize the usefulness of peacekeeping operations, Madagascar considers that disarmament is inseparable from any effort to consolidate peace. Indeed, the increasing deadliness of conflicts is connected with the excessive accumulation of light weapons, of which there are now an estimated 500 million. In our view the problem must be resolved upstream, because practically all the hotbeds of tension are maintained by the production and sale of such weapons and illicit trafficking in them. As a party to the international conventions on the non-proliferation of weapons and illicit trafficking in them, Madagascar supports the idea of an international conference on the illicit arms trade, in all its aspects. As we turn the page on a millennium tarnished by wars and conflicts, general disarmament must be a common and shared objective. In this regard, on 25 August of this year Madagascar associated itself with the ratification of the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel landmines. Convinced that there can be no security in a world teeming with nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, Madagascar welcomes the holding next year of the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. 6 Another concern of our times is the struggle against international terrorism, a struggle in which we should be steadfastly united. This is why we wish to we wish to support the development of a draft international convention to block the financing of terrorism. Our active participation at the last OAU summit, held in Algiers, in the adoption of a convention for preventing and fighting terrorism, demonstrates our determination to eradicate this scourge. Furthermore, this very day we have signed the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings. At a time when all the inhabitants of the planet share the desire to live free from the horrors of violence, discrimination and exclusion, respect for democratic principles is no longer just a precept; it has become an absolute necessity. We therefore exhort the international community to condemn firmly any taking of power by non- democratic means. As the principal guarantor of universal values, the United Nations is called upon to take the lead in this area. At the threshold of the twenty-first century, working together to promote human development and human rights is an obligation. This year, 1999 — the International Year of Older Persons — is crucial for the implementation of the International Plan of Action on Ageing, adopted at Vienna in 1982. Madagascar therefore welcomes the initiative to convene in 2002 a special session of the General Assembly devoted to the updating of this Plan of Action. The right to development is inseparable from the effective exercise of human rights. It must enjoy international support and solidarity so that development is extended to all human beings, not just to a privileged minority. For its part, Madagascar has spared no effort to strengthen its institutional capacities. A National Human Rights Commission and an observer office for human rights have been established. We have also signed agreements with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to assist in promoting human rights. Aware of the revival of transnational traffic in women and children as well as of modern forms of slavery, Madagascar adopted on 25 January 1999 a law designed to combat paedophilia. Furthermore, we welcome the conventions produced under the aegis of the International Labour Organization on the employment of children and young people. Personally, I am happy to have signed the letter addressed to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, from all the female Ministers for Foreign Affairs, a letter that reiterates our unwavering support for the fight against trafficking in human beings, particularly women and children. From one year to the next we are beset by the same concerns. We do not wish to call it routine, but our agenda nevertheless reveals that we must experience the same concerns time and again. The century is drawing to an end without the resolution of two major problems: poverty and the increase in social inequality. One billion people live in extreme poverty, while another billion are enjoying a life of increasing luxury. Furthermore, a recent study has shown that at the beginning of the next century we can expect the ratio of income differential between the rich and the poor countries to be on the order of 150 to one. Our claims are therefore as legitimate as ever, while our efforts at development remain hampered by the continuing and ever-growing deterioration of the terms of trade, by our strict dependence on external capital, and by the disproportionate concentration of direct foreign investment in economic sectors to which access is restricted. Without wishing to belittle the advantages of the inescapable phenomenon of globalization, our fears remain profound in the face of the emergence of a unipolar order, which in certain cases promotes marginalization, precariousness and insecurity; reduces our Governments’ room to manoeuvre or capacity to act; and sometimes even affects our countries’ exercise of their own sovereignty. We therefore say “no” to selective globalization when it comes to liberalization, inasmuch as we are being called on to liberalize our trade, investments and financial flows at an accelerated pace, while this impulse to liberalize has not been nearly so strong in the case of products of interest to our countries or in the promotion of access to know-how and technologies. The lack of consistency within the new world system also applies to the links between our economic adjustment programmes and the various social and environmental objectives: the struggle against poverty, the establishment of basic social infrastructures, the security safety net and the protection and development of our environmental resources. While in no way calling into question the commitments undertaken to its development partners, Madagascar expresses its solidarity with all the 7 developing countries in calling for improved integration within the world economic system, allowing the promotion of regular and socially harmonious growth with a human and ecological face. The challenges are numerous and varied. The elimination of poverty remains our priority. We continue to believe that this problem will be resolved only if the pace of economic growth is accelerated and maintained. The international anti-poverty strategy must include concrete measures to strengthen national efforts in such areas as job creation, improved functioning of markets and social and political institutions, and the active participation of vulnerable groups in development. The problem of external debt is a political question of the highest importance in international economic relations and remains a genuine obstacle to the growth of most developing countries. Arrangements and accords to date have provided only limited solutions because of conditions of eligibility, new conditionalities, selectivity in loan- making, the excessive length of negotiations and constraints connected to mandatory circulation. We welcome the debt-reduction plan approved recently at the G-8 Summit in Cologne, but the slow pace at which the reduction would seem to yield benefits tends to erode our hopes. This plan should be interpreted flexibly by the international financial institutions so that it may benefit all debtors without exception. The African debt warrants particular attention because of these countries’ very limited capacity for repayment. Indicators show that the African can never be repaid. We therefore call simply for its total cancellation. We are deeply concerned by the reduction of official development assistance, which today represents less than one third of the international target agreed more than 20 years ago. It is urgent that this trend be reversed. Given the importance of this question, Madagascar is following with particular interest the preparatory work for the international meeting on all aspects of development financing. The discussion on reforming the international financial architecture is of the greatest interest to us, the objective being to free additional and foreseeable resources for development and to strengthen the systems that control, monitor and regulate financial flows. With regard to international trade, we support the message of the Group of 77 addressed to the forthcoming meeting of the World Trade Organization in Seattle, as well as the Marrakesh Declaration with regard to the preparation of the tenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD X), scheduled for Bangkok early next year. The question of commodities remains a subject of major concern to our countries. We therefore support the efforts of the relevant international institutions, UNCTAD in particular, to find more effective machinery that would allow us to increase our export earnings. Recognized as a global nature sanctuary because of the wealth of its biodiversity, Madagascar remains deeply concerned by environmental problems. We follow with interest all United Nations activities for sustainable development and renew our appeal for increased support from our partners in the implementation of our national environmental programme, currently in phase 2. To meet these challenges, we have two options. First, we are convinced that the reform targets we are contemplating can be achieved only within the framework of revitalized international economic cooperation. This would require a resumption of the North-South dialogue. In this context, major international economic meetings should be guided by a spirit of solidarity and a sense of share responsibility between the various development partners. We must therefore advocate a global and integrated approach to replace sectoral schemes, which are necessarily inadequate. The second option, which we feel to be a prerequisite, requires the strengthening of South-South cooperation. In advance even of the process of integration within the inevitable system of globalization, it is natural — even imperative — for the southern countries to organize themselves. Our progress in this area, being dispersed and isolated, has proved slow. Of course, we recognize that priorities, methods and schedules differ. We must concede, however, that the implementation stage of such cooperation now calls for the much greater unity and genuine political involvement of member countries. In this manner, we envisage a reorganization of the South at all levels — subregional, regional, continental and global — grouping together all developing countries. Madagascar is firmly committed to this approach. That is why, at the subregional and regional levels, we are participating within the Indian Ocean Commission in the implementation of a regional sustainable development policy, to be endorsed by the forthcoming summit of heads of State and Government on 3 December. As a full member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern 8 Africa, Madagascar was among the first to decide to apply, on a reciprocal basis, a tariff reduction of 80 per cent for the products of member States. This tariff preference is a prelude to a free-trade zone. At the continental level, we welcome the appeal launched at the recent fourth Extraordinary Summit of the Organization of African Unity at Sirte for greater economic integration in Africa. Indeed, participants in this conference clearly affirmed that greater unity is one way to resist the threat of globalization looming over the continent. Together with all African countries, Madagascar urges the international community to lend its material and financial support and to share with our continent its own experiences in its achievement of unity. According to United Nations resolutions, Africa in the 1990s has been a priority for action against poverty and insecurity. In this regard, I welcome the financial commitment of $150 million, announced three days ago on 28 September by Mr. James Wolfensohn, President of the West Bank, to its Partnership for African Capacity. The contribution of every Member State to forging a new Africa is an obligation. With this in mind, over the past three years Madagascar has built a structure that will promote democracy, human rights and multifaceted cooperation. An entire field of activity has opened up today, making our big island a major actor in regional, continental and international life. The principle of sharing has been implicit in the activities of our Organization since its Charter was written. Whatever reforms it has undergone and will undergo, we agree that it is important to preserve among us this noble principle, a rallying cry for our actions. There is also sharing to be done to reduce economic discrepancies which have been growing over the last two decades; sharing to remedy the asymmetry of trade, if not actually to redefine such trade, and to ensure that such progress is immanent; and sharing to put an end to the role of war so as to finally initiate the role of peace. We remain convinced that only the United Nations will be a true instigator of the culture of peace, prosperity and humanism in this world which must be interdependent. We share the wish for success in the forthcoming great meetings in the year 2000; at Bangkok for the tenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, at Havana for the South Summit, and here in this very Hall for the Millennium Summit.