Congo

At this forty-ninth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, the African continent has every right to feel honoured in this great body. Through the brilliant election of its President, our Assembly has paid a tribute to the merits and the qualities of a great African diplomat. I would add that above and beyond the recognition so richly deserved by his country, Côte d’Ivoire, for its contribution to peace, we also find in his election a posthumous tribute to its founder, President Houphouët Boigny, that unforgettable monument of modern-day Africa. I would like to extend to our President the warmest congratulations of the Congolese delegation and to avail myself of this opportunity to pay a well- deserved tribute to his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Samuel Insanally, Ambassador of Guyana, who served as President at the forty-eighth session with such great competence and skill. My congratulations go also to our Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who since becoming the leader of our Organization has endeavoured with such dedication to bring our Member States closer to the purposes and principles of the Charter. On behalf of the Congolese people, I would like to reiterate to this humble servant of mankind our most earnest encouragement as he discharges his lofty responsibilities. Many peace-keeping and goodwill missions of the United Nations are currently to be found on African soil. We welcome this necessary assistance, while we hope that the peoples concerned will do even better in fostering conditions for a return to peace. Finally, how can one not feel overcome with joy at the triumphant welcome given the return of the Republic of South Africa to the commonwealth of free nations? This return, which puts the finishing touches on the liberation of the African continent from colonialism and racism, is surely a source of legitimate satisfaction for the Members of the United Nations who devoted so much energy and so many resources in the battle of the South African people against apartheid. To the delegation of that country that embodies the hopes of an entire continent, I would like to extend a warm, fraternal welcome. At the beginning of this forty-ninth session the Assembly faces a complicated situation that combines real reasons for satisfaction with extremely worrisome issues. A marked trend towards dialogue and cooperation in search of solutions to the problems that confront our world encourages our desire for a new system of international relations that would be more humane and more just. The United Nations has to its credit many achievements in the restoration and creation of peace. Conflicts that have been solved or are in the process of being solved give, little by little, faith and confidence in the future, indeed I would say to life, to those peoples who have been subjugated by despair, if not by the disturbing resurgence of civil wars, ethnic tensions and religious crusades. The abolition of apartheid in South Africa, which seemed impossible yesterday, is a reality today, as if to grant the wishes of the international community and to reward the strictures of the United Nations, a peaceful transition has given birth to a united, democratic and non- racist South Africa. A peaceful settlement to the question of the Aouzou strip has rid Central Africa of a fratricidal conflict. I hope the example of Libya and Chad will inspire other States as well. Firmly and resolutely, the dynamic of peace begun in the Middle East is growing stronger and is opening prospects for cooperation to peoples long ruined by war and yet fated by geography and history to live together. This is why, in hailing the significant progress achieved in this process, the Republic of the Congo hopes that we will see rapid progress in the Arab-Israeli negotiations with a view to the establishment of a thorough, just and lasting peace in the Middle East. But the hope offered by the progress that has been achieved remains frustrated by the persistence of local wars that continue their bloodshed in various parts of the world. Political differences and ethnic, racial or religious diversity, far from enriching society, have elicited intolerance, hatred, violence and, worst of all, the destruction of what is most precious to us all: human life. From Bosnia to Angola, the similarities are striking. Of these crises that conceal several basic questions, we see that a record number are in Africa: Angola, Somalia, Liberia, Rwanda ... The Republic of the Congo remains greatly concerned about the situation in its sister republic and neighbour Angola. We deplore the continuation of this fratricidal, murderous war, sustained by the intransigence and rigidity of UNITA. The Congolese Government 41 supports all peace efforts undertaken by the international community in the attempt to settle the conflict peacefully, especially as part of the Lusaka negotiations: negotiations in which Angola has made very constructive proposals that show the determination of President Dos Santos and his Government to find a solution that might take into account all the political sensibilities of that country. My country would like to reiterate its wish to see Angolans finally reach understanding and reconciliation, so that they can devote their energies to the rebuilding of their country, torn apart by a war that has lasted far too long. With regard to Liberia, we hope that the recent signing in Ghana of the cease-fire agreement by the various protagonists will lead to better prospects for that country. The genocide we have seen in Rwanda, another sad chapter in the history of mankind, is only the most extreme and inhuman manifestation of the problems facing Africa today. Violence, poverty, famine, disease, refugees, spiralling population growth - such is the widespread image of contemporary Africa. This well-known, gloomy picture no doubt stems from a habitual pessimism rather than from a thorough study of reality. The increase in the inequality between the richest and the poorest countries has grown more complex with the emergence of worldwide markets, trade, communications - even, unfortunately, pollution. Africa, long relegated to the background, seems to have combined all the social pathologies that inexorably strike ever-growing and ever- poorer populations. In our underdeveloped countries, chronic indebtedness and the drop in the prices of our basic commodities, compounded by the pernicious reduction in public aid for development and investments that continue to ignore our legislation, however attractive and liberal it may be, are worsening the disappearance of sources of financing and development. Here growth is slow to appear, whereas early signs already herald the beginnings of expansion in the world economy. The unemployed population is increasing, and workers are under a constant uncertainty. As if to complete this picture, natural disasters - drought and desertification - compete with epidemics such as AIDS and malaria. Infections we thought to have eradicated are reappearing. In this context of a disastrous economy, a population explosion has eliminated any hope of redressing the imbalance between an almost zero economic growth rate and a population growth rate that is out of control. This situation has destroyed all our efforts at recovery. Congo, for its part, has not escaped this common destiny. The socio-political crisis which has shaken my country to its very foundations and brought great grief to many Congolese families has to a large extent torn the social fabric and has completely ruined our economy. This crisis has at least had the merit of destroying many illusions. We had thought - or pretended to think - that it was enough simply to copy the old Western democracies and hold free elections under international supervision to ensure that democracy prospered, that it was unnecessary to take local realities into account. Surely the European Parliament learned a bitter lesson from its failure, because it said to the new democracies that peoples and Governments should find formulas which would enable them to create democratic, lawful institutions based on their own history and cultural identity. How can we claim that in two years’ time we have done away with the ills of 30 years of badly assimilated Marxist-Leninist culture, a culture which was fundamentally hostile to pluralistic democracy and fundamentally opposed to individual growth. And what should we say of the harmful effects of so many years of Marxist management of an economy that is today doomed because of that failure? Congo’s economy today is suffering from the disastrous consequences of ill-advised economic policies, which has given my country the honour of being placed among the most indebted countries in the world. In addition to this economic bankruptcy we find the waste, the ruin of our cultural and moral values, and a breakdown of the innate genius of our people. Insidious and pernicious, destitution and poverty have crept into the private lives of men and women, every day becoming more numerous, men and women who to survive must hide behind the ultimate bulwark of ethnicity, which has become a factor for segregation and division. Made idle and vulnerable, and subjected to chronic unemployment, our youth are now indulging in the illusion of drugs and the armed defence of dubious causes. 42 Thus, we see the scope of the consequences of so many harmful factors in a society where people have lost all sense of perspective. Violence then becomes the outlet for venting all sorts of political, economic and social frustrations. The outbreaks of violence in the Congo are the most absurd manifestation of this. We must rely on our traditional values to revive our dedication to dialogue and peace and hence realize how vain such extreme behaviour is - indeed, nothing more than human folly. We have given new life to the democratic process; we have started all over again. This is a process redirected towards democratic transition, the first stage of power- sharing; it is the result of a policy of administrative decentralization, one of the foundations of the development programme of President Pascal Lissouba. Today leaders of the opposition are mayors of Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire - the main cities in the country - and are thereby making their contribution to the national recovery. Congo’s experience highlights the challenges facing the new democracies, in particular young African democracies, which in order to build one nation must emerge from the condition of multi-ethnic States and one- party or feudal systems and pass on to full democracy with its corollary, a market economy. In order to meet these challenges, Congo has opted for a programme of economic and social recovery that is already under way. The programme involves the relaunching of our country’s development. Our bitter experience has led us to conclude that we must give pride of place to the economy in order to safeguard the young and fragile Congolese democracy and give it a solid basis, especially taking into account the crucial needs of our peoples, our own values and geopolitical realities. To fulfil this objective, the programme involves in its initial phase a structural adjustment programme concluded with the Bretton Woods institutions, a programme we are determined to carry out successfully in spite of the enormous sacrifices this will entail for our people. This must be done because we are determined to stimulate development and to revive hope among our people. We are banking on relaunching progress, but Congo cannot succeed alone. Africa is our salvation. Indeed, it is in the integration and complementarity of our economies that we should try to find solutions so that we can emerge from the grave economic and social crisis that has engulfed our countries, and especially relaunch our growth and development. Let us hope that the African States will be able to create the conditions for this complementarity, especially through the use of science and technology. This initiative gives a good idea of the crucial importance of the establishment of the African Economic Community. But in order to succeed this endeavour requires human as well as financial resources. In this connection, the international community is called upon to give resolute help to our countries in their efforts to find competent men and women who can promote development by their know-how, in the appropriate institutions. Development and the effective use of human resources are a decisive factor for the socio-economic development of our African continent. That is why, guided by this requirement of development, the Congolese Government has established the Panafrican Institute of Management and Innovation to train people in the management of resources, including human resources. For the initiator of this project, His Excellency President Pascal Lissouba, development cannot be defined solely in terms of growth; it must also be defined in terms of the ability to master the art of management. The second requirement of this endeavour is to fund it. In this connection, we are not relying only on financial resources - that is, a massive influx of capital into our poor economies. The economies would still have to be able to digest such capital. Above and beyond the generation of financial flows to our countries, what Africa needs above all is the establishment of a financial instrument, whose machinery would be brought into harmony with the other, existing instruments of international cooperation. This financial instrument, with the support of all the African countries, would obtain appropriate support from the international community, especially the Bretton Woods institutions. Thus, the African Development Bank is in our view the best institution to deal with the financial aspect and, furthermore, to study a system for funding science and technology for development. Today more than ever 43 before, science and technology are part and parcel of development; they are requirements of development. The favourable developments in the world political situation have given rise to the hope that a new era of peace will give the United Nations the role that its founders intended it to play. Everything - or almost everything - would seem to augur well for a new world order: an outpouring of freedom and democracy; a revival of the universal awareness of human rights; and the pre-eminence of the United Nations in resolving issues linked to international peace, development and security. Unfortunately, the psychosis of nuclear apocalypse characteristic of the cold war has given way to a violent, deadly expression of freedom and of local wars in a large number of developing countries, especially in Africa. We have already stated that economic frustration is at the root of these events. Therefore, peace and security in our States and throughout the world require a solution to our people’s economic and social problems as well as the transformation of the world economic system with a view to establishing a more just order. It is only then that we can have a true idea of the Agenda for Development and of its capability of meeting the expectations and concerns of the developing countries. The vagaries of the Rwandan tragedy, especially at the time when the critical decision was taken by the Security Council to withdraw the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), should awaken the conscience of people everywhere and make them pause and reflect. The joint efforts of the United Nations and of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) were crystal-clear. The continent- wide organization, through its conflict-prevention, -management and -resolution machinery, had committed itself to continuing these efforts. My country welcomes the return of United Nations peace-keeping forces to Rwanda after a departure that had left us with the bitter feeling that the decision was inappropriate. Congo, in spite of its internal difficulties, from the very outset had felt concerned over the Rwandan tragedy. In a manifestation of fraternal solidarity, my country has taken part in all the humanitarian and peace-keeping operations in Rwanda, ranging from the OAU observer mission, UNAMIR I and operation "Turquoise" to today’s UNAMIR II. In drawing conclusions from these tragic events, the 11 States of Central Africa, brought together in the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa, have decided to create from among their respective armed forces a single peace- keeping unit. This unit, once set up, will take part in OAU and United Nations peace-keeping operations. Today more than ever, in that part of Africa so sorely tried by instability and civil war, this advisory committee would appear to be a valuable instrument for preventing crises and conflicts and seems deserving of the attention and support of the international community. The recent signing of a non-aggression pact among the States of the subregion is a most concrete example of this. This framework body for joint efforts for subregional peace and security, which my country will host in March and August 1995, will help, we are convinced, to prevent crises and conflicts and thereby lay the foundations for genuine peace and cooperation in Central Africa. In an international context where we still see certain conflicts, we must acknowledge once again the pre- eminent role of the Security Council, which safeguards international peace and security. The spectacular increase in the membership of the United Nations as well as the emergence of new political and economic forces the world over require an expansion of this body on the basis of equitable geographic representation. In so doing, we would only be abiding by the criterion of universality, which has always guided our Organization and which must be constantly adapted to newly emerging realities. Our destinies are bound to become increasingly intertwined, our horizons to broaden, and all this in a spirit of diversity, complementarity and solidarity without any will to power or domination. Increased developments in science and technology will result in a globalization of the challenges we must face. 44 May we be able to make the best possible use of the vast potential open to us, so that our long-suffering peoples will finally see the dawning of the era of peace and prosperity they so legitimately desire.