Ethiopia

First of all, I should like to congratulate you, Sir, on your election as President of the fifty-first session of the General Assembly. I wish to assure you the full cooperation of my delegation in the discharge of this heavy responsibility entrusted to you. I 10 should like also to take this opportunity to pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Freitas do Amaral, for the able manner in which he fulfilled his responsibilities. Last year we celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations and reiterated our dedication to the purposes and principles of the Organization, for the promotion of which it was established. That occasion also afforded us the opportunity to take stock of United Nations achievements and of its yet-unfinished business, as well as of the continuing challenges faced by both the Organization and the international community at large. That stock-taking exercise could not have led us to underestimate, let alone belittle, what has been achieved by the United Nations. In any case, in so far as the United Nations is our universal Organization, its failings can only be our failings, as its successes are also ours. None the less, last year’s stock-taking of the performance of the 50-year- old United Nations must have underlined more than anything else how complex and daunting the challenges faced by the Organization and by the international community are becoming. There are probably no greater challenges before the international community in this regard than those of development and of peace and stability — two concerns that define the very essence of the United Nations and that constitute the core purposes and objectives of the Organization. It is not yet a distant memory that we all rejoiced at the end of the cold war, believing that it would open up new vistas of opportunity for addressing the vital issues of international concern that had been overshadowed for decades by the arms race, East-West rivalry and other manifestations of the cold-war era. That positive development — the end of the cold war — also encouraged many in the developing world, especially those of us in Africa, to undertake far-reaching political and economic reform measures, with a view to laying the foundation for democratic transformation and meaningful economic growth and development. Despite all these manifested hopes and courageous moves towards economic reform and democracy, the situation on the African continent remains a source of great concern. At present, Africa is the only continent where the level of poverty is increasing dramatically. Needless to say, this trend could lead to unimaginable consequences unless it is arrested and reversed as speedily as possible. Thus, Africa’s genuine fear is that the opportunity created by the end of the cold war will disappear and that a historic chance will be squandered forever. It is by no means accidental that, of all the regions of the world, Africa is the most affected by conflicts and lack of stability. Conflicts in our continent have not only been greater in number, but have also proved to be more intractable and, more often than not, more deadly and more destructive, in terms of both human lives and property. It may not always be plausible to suggest that all conflicts in Africa have their roots in economic difficulties only. But, whatever the constellation of factors immediately responsible for specific conflict situations in Africa, the fact remains that in most instances civil strife and conflicts in the continent have emerged within the context of deteriorating economic situations. In this context, the only durable solution for the political crisis in Africa can be found in the economic regeneration and development of the continent. Development is therefore the only reliable preventive means to ensure and maintain peace and stability in Africa. The development of Africa will continue to be a distant dream unless the known obstacles are removed, among which the debt burden continues to be the major impediment. In this context, we are encouraged by the recent Lyon summit of the Group of Seven, which we were hopeful would go beyond the Naples terms in easing the debt overhang for countries such as Ethiopia. We also hope that some progress will be made during the upcoming annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in connection with multilateral debt. For countries like my own, this is very crucial indeed. While durable solutions to conflicts and to the lack of peace and stability in Africa or anywhere else can hardly be achieved within the context of economic dislocation and economic decline, it is also equally true that development requires peace and stability. This is the vicious circle we find ourselves in, which makes it difficult to find speedy resolution of the very many conflict situations that have led to unspeakable human suffering, and on some occasions to genocide, in Africa. In Somalia, where peace and national reconciliation have eluded the people for close to six years, we are still far from making any headway in reversing the situation. Efforts are, however, still continuing to help bring about national reconciliation in Somalia, and my own Prime Minister has continued to attach the highest importance to this endeavour. In all these efforts, the role of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) has been vital; whether it is in Liberia, Burundi, Somalia or other conflict situations in Africa, the important contribution that the OAU Secretary-General has been making is a source of great satisfaction to us. The Organization of African Unity has indeed upgraded its capacity for conflict resolution in our continent since the establishment in 1993 of the OAU Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution. I wish to seize this opportunity to express appreciation to all those who have continued to help ensure that the OAU’s role in this area is strengthened and enhanced. Conflict situations, whether in Africa or elsewhere, have negative consequences not only for the countries directly affected but also for their neighbours and their regions. The situation in Somalia has not been an exception to this. The absence of central authority for an extended period of time in that country has been seen to provide opportunity for extra-regional elements bent on exporting terror and on experimenting with plans designed to create instability and chaos in our region. It is therefore in my country’s direct national interest that peace be established and national reconciliation achieved in Somalia as speedily as possible. This is also in the interest of our region in general. Our region, which has had a prolonged period of instability and which has also recently experienced State-sponsored terrorism, cannot afford and should not be expected to tolerate the proliferation and the establishment of centres of international terrorism by multinational elements in our midst. The spread of terrorism is not a danger merely to our region, but to the international community as a whole. Ethiopia’s conscience is clear in this regard because it has done its level best to fulfil its responsibilities in the fight against terrorism, and it will always remain committed to combating this evil. At present, the most worrying conflict, with the potential for a level of human slaughter which we all dread to see, is the one in Burundi. The parties to the conflict in Burundi have the responsibility to save their society from decimation through accommodation based on principles that suit the specific conditions of their country. Others with a much more complex societal mix have managed to put in place democratic mechanisms to reconcile the right of the majority to govern with sufficient guarantees for the security and dignity of the minority. This is what ex-President Mwalimu Nyerere has been striving to assist the Burundi parties to achieve through the Mwanza peace process, a process which enjoys the full support of the United Nations and of the international community. I wish to take this opportunity to express appreciation for the resolve and unity that the countries of the region have demonstrated in an effort to see to it that disaster is averted in Burundi and that the country achieves national reconciliation. I wish also to express appreciation to all those who have continued to support the Mwanza process and the initiative that was taken by the countries of the region on 31 July 1996. My country, which emerged from a very difficult period of conflicts and severe economic hardships only five years ago, has made major strides on all fronts during this brief period of time. We draw immense satisfaction from the fact that our people have finally achieved durable peace and stability. Moreover, our economic reform programmes have started to bear fruit; we are encouraged by the results achieved, particularly in agricultural production, over the past few years. That Ethiopia now has the capacity not only to feed itself, but also to be an exporter of food grains, is increasingly becoming a reality. Ethiopia is striving to enhance its capacity to become a useful and effective partner in international economic cooperation. We intend to make our country an attractive place for investment; all the necessary foundations have already been laid by my Government to this end. We are determined to make trade and investment the major pillars of our economic cooperation with others. Ethiopia has also endeavoured to contribute its share to regional and international peace and stability over the past few years. That is a policy that we intend to expand further with a view to fulfilling our regional and international commitments, no matter how small our contribution might be. Ethiopia welcomes the recent adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty by the fiftieth session of the General Assembly. We believe that it represents an important step towards the attainment of the larger objectives of nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament. As a founding Member of the United Nations, Ethiopia attaches the highest importance to the work of the United Nations and wishes to see the Organization revitalized and strengthened. In this context, Ethiopia, like 12 many other countries, is convinced that the future of the United Nations lies in its democratization and in the creation of conditions under which all Member States, big or small, will feel that the Organization belongs equally to all of them. With respect to developments in Africa, in the area of conflict prevention and in other areas, my Government is keen to see more effective cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity. No doubt, much work needs to be done in this area, and we are confident that the mechanism for consultation already in place between the two organizations will be utilized more effectively and with a far greater sense of purpose and consistency. I wish to take this opportunity to express my Government’s appreciation to the Secretary-General for his very useful and timely initiative on the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa. The Special Initiative is complementary to the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s, and, through the reallocation of existing resources and the mobilization of additional ones, will contribute to the development of Africa. We hope that the Special Initiative will be implemented as planned and that it will not, like previous initiatives, remain unfulfilled and be another source of frustration and an empty promise. We believe that the United Nations can do more to promote effectively the purposes and principles enshrined in its Charter and to galvanize international cooperation to achieve peace and development. Our world cannot afford to see the international community divided in two, with one half remaining poor and becoming even poorer. The imperatives of interdependence dictate that this trend be reversed, especially when all that those who are lagging behind demand is the removal of the obstacles to development and an opportunity to address their economic problems on the basis of their own efforts. Ethiopia is confident that the United Nations will play an increasingly dynamic role, so that all the nations and peoples of the world will have an equal stake in the preservation of global civilization and in enriching human society.