I am delighted to have the opportunity at this fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly to share with the entire international community the concerns — but also the hope — that inspire the nation of Niger in the progress of world events. The Niger welcomes the new Member States — the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga — to membership of the United Nations community. I would also like to say how proud and pleased we are, Sir, over your unanimous election as President of the General Assembly for this session. On behalf of the delegation of the Niger, I wish to sincerely congratulate you and the other members of the Bureau. Your professional skills and your well-known human qualities, as well as your unceasing commitment to your country, Namibia, and to the defence of the noble causes of humanity, guarantee the successful outcome of the Assembly’s work. My delegation also has the agreeable duty of paying a well-deserved tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Didier Opertti, for the excellent work done during his term of office. 9 The presence at your side of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, whose devotion and constant desire to serve the causes I have mentioned are well-established, reinforces our conviction that the outcome of this session will make it possible to lay a sound basis for the future of a world that is less unjust, more peaceful, more prosperous — and, in a word, more human. The Niger is a landlocked, heavily indebted country which has for almost a decade suffered from chronic institutional instability. This situation has seriously undermined its people’s efforts to establish a viable political, economic and social environment. Since its accession to independence in August 1960 the Republic of the Niger has experienced profound upheavals which have affected its progress towards the establishment of a democratic, harmonious and prosperous society. But these upheavals, far from weakening the democratic ideal of our people, have strengthened its resolve to overcome these challenges. Strengthened by this conviction, the Council for National Reconciliation and the Government resulting from the events of 9 April 1999 have made the strong commitment that the people of the Niger, at peace with itself and possessing stable and durable democratic institutions, will be able to meet the challenges of the third millennium. On 18 July, in a referendum, the people of the Niger adopted the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, which will lead to the establishment of lasting democratic institutions. The timetable decided on by our Independent National Electoral Commission sets the first round of presidential elections for 17 October. The second round will be held at the same time as the general elections, on 24 November. The investiture and assumption of office of the President- elect of the Republic will take place on 31 December 1999. In this respect, every step has been taken to organize the elections in the most transparent, honest and neutral way possible. The measures taken include a ban on the military’s submitting candidates for the presidential and general elections, even if those candidates are on leave of absence or have resigned from the military. The Government will ensure that the elections are held in a spirit of impartiality. With this same aim, the Independent National Electoral Commission was institutionalized and a national communications monitor set up to guarantee equal access to public media and to ensure that the press is free and constructive. Basically, therefore, our political transition is on the right track, and the instruments for this transition will be active until power is handed over to the duly, freely elected authorities. In view of all this, we hope that our traditional external partners will help us establish true democracy in the Niger. We expect their support, which is necessary to help us in the process of establishing dialogue among all parties concerned to guarantee the holding of credible, honest elections. But as the Assembly is aware, democracy does not just mean holding a series of elections. A legal arsenal and a different way of thinking are essential to consolidate democracy, and this is why we have started giving organized, concerted consideration to the drafting of basic texts that will govern the future Republic. Varied and burning issues, such as the depoliticization of the administration, the electoral code, the charter of political parties, the status of the opposition and the role of the army in a democratic context have been tackled. In this context, I call upon interested States to take part in the national workshop to be held next December on the theme “The army and democracy in Africa: the case of the Niger”. I wish very sincerely to thank all bilateral and multilateral partners of the Niger, in particular United Nations agencies, and more specifically the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), for having continued to support my country’s efforts to create the right institutional environment to restore social peace and to enable men and women of the Niger to meet the major challenges they face. This highly appreciated assistance will continue to be necessary in this decisive phase of the democratic process and the process of national reconciliation. The recurrent theme of post-conflict insecurity deserves special attention from the United Nations system. The Niger, resolutely committed to the process of cantonment, disarmament and socio-economic reintegration of elements of the former rebel army which rampaged in the north and far east of the country a few 10 years ago, fully supports the programme for collecting and destroying small arms. It is in this spirit that my country submitted to the Secretariat a plan to put an end to the illicit circulation of small arms and light weapons. It endorsed the decision taken by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in June 1998 and the declaration adopted by the heads of State and Government of member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in October 1998 to deal with the destabilizing effects and the threat to peace and security posed by the illicit circulation of small arms and light weapons for the West African region and for the entire continent. We welcome the emerging concordance of views and action regarding the priority nature of this question among African organizations on the one hand, and other international institutions — including those of the United Nations system, the European Union and the Organization of American States — on the other. This international consensus will make it possible to take effective steps in time for the upcoming international conference on all aspects of the illicit arms trade, to be held in 2001. The Niger has always sought to make its modest contribution to the settlement of conflicts that threaten peace and security in Africa and throughout the rest of the world. Despite our limited resources, we sent troops to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau, as well as civilian police officers to Haiti. In this regard, my Government wishes to reaffirm its constant willingness to send military and police contingents to all United Nations peacekeeping operations when needed. In Africa, thanks to the efforts of the international community, we have reason to hope that the process leading to the referendum on self-determination for the Sahraoui people will soon lead to a final settlement of this question. The conclusion of the Peace Agreement in Sierra Leone under the aegis of ECOWAS and the Ceasefire Agreement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have given us a glimmer of hope. These efforts must be continued and must serve as an example for those involved in other conflicts, such as in Angola, in Somalia or in the armed confrontation between Ethiopia and Eritrea. It must be acknowledged that these situations of crisis and insecurity demand first and foremost that African Governments and leaders of public opinion commit themselves resolutely to dealing with factors of instability on a consensus basis. In this respect, my Government and my people would like through me to welcome the individual and collective initiatives to create or consolidate an environment of peace and security in Africa, which is a sine qua non for development. Outstanding and effective initiatives have been taken in various places and should be welcomed. Among these is the action initiated by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria, who had the praiseworthy idea of holding on 16 September last, a referendum on civil concord, which was massively supported by the Algerian people. The Government and the people of the Niger welcome this genuine plebiscite and the prospects it ushers in for that fraternal country. The Niger also welcomes the positive developments in the Lockerbie case. We believe that conditions now exist for the total lifting of sanctions against the great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. In the Middle East, the attention of the international community is still focused on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which, fortunately, seems to have been revived with the change in the leadership of the Israeli Government. In Asia, the Jammu and Kashmir conflict remains a source of great tension between two nuclear States, India and Pakistan, and a persistent, serious threat to peace and security in that part of South Asia. The Niger, therefore, as a member of the contact group established by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, reiterates its appeal to both parties to step up their negotiations in order to reach a peaceful settlement of the conflict by recognizing the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination pursuant to the relevant resolutions of the United Nations. In Europe, my Government welcomes the return of peace to the Balkans. The establishment of an administration under United Nations control is a sure guarantee for the safe return of the refugees. It is more essential and urgent than ever to reverse the decline in official development assistance which, it must be recalled, is at its lowest level in 50 years. In order to meet this challenge, the international community must consider the possibility of mobilizing additional resources. It is therefore urgent that progress be made within the framework of the initiatives taken at world summits. At the same time, we must pool our efforts to increase the effectiveness of aid by reviewing its modalities and through its sound and rigorous management. It is on the basis of this experience that my Government adopted a national strategy note and an economic recovery programme that clearly defines the coherent networks for action by our development partners. Furthermore, the crucial problem of African countries’ debt — which is wiping out all development efforts — calls for the international community as a whole to implement, without delay or conditions other than good public administration, appropriate regulatory policies and mechanisms. In this connection, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt (HIPC) Initiative of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as the recent initiative undertaken in Cologne at the Group of 7 Summit, must be extended to all the least developed countries in order to produce the effects we hope to see. This must take the form of an outright cancellation of the debt. Despite the outstanding efforts made by many African countries in the area of economic reform, foreign private investment flows are still meagre, notwithstanding the enabling environment that has been established. We very much hope that the positive initiative taken by the Secretary-General at Davos will allow greater involvement by the private sector in implementing adequate measures to reverse that tendency. It is in this connection that my delegation would like to appeal to all development partners to help reinforce the institutional capacities of our States and to create adequate infrastructures, which are guarantees of balanced development. The second special dialogue between the Economic and Social Council and the Bretton Woods institutions held here on 29 April 1999 reaffirmed the need to continue the reform of the international financial system, bearing in mind social imperatives and the external debt situation, that is to say, the close link between settling debt, poverty reduction and lasting development. Niger belongs to the group of least developed countries and has a population that is growing at an annual rate of 3.4 per cent. It has a fertility rate of 7.4 children per woman and a life expectancy of 47 years, and is ranked among the poorest countries of the world. Despite all these constraints, my country has made efforts to design and implement initiatives in keeping with the recommendations of the population conferences. These various difficulties have exacerbated the political instability I referred to before and have kept our country at the bottom of the human development table. Poverty affects 63 per cent of our compatriots, 34 per cent of whom live below the extreme poverty threshold. Those people are victims of continued declining maternal, childhood and adolescent health standards — a critical social and health situation marked by high mortality and illiteracy rates, one of the lowest standards of education and insufficient drinking water resources. They even lack basic social services. The economic and financial crisis that has hit my country has, among other things, led to a drastic reduction in public investment, particularly in the social sectors, thus depriving 80 per cent of the rural population of adequate living standards. With the valuable assistance of international financial institutions we have initiated an enormous economic recovery programme to confront this situation. This programme includes, among other things, a series of economic and financial reforms and framework programmes to restore the macroeconomic balance, reduce poverty and stimulate growth. I wish, from this rostrum, to reiterate our great appreciation for the ongoing support that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other development partners have been steadily providing to implement our national framework programme to combat poverty. This programme we are implementing is one of the priorities of the first country cooperation framework adopted by the UNDP Governing Council last January. I would like here to make a heartfelt appeal to the United Nations system to allocate sufficient supplementary resources to UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA so that they can complete their development activities in the least developed countries. This appeal also goes out to the international community to supply all the necessary support to my country so that the major challenges we are confronting can be met. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, special attention should be given to making a reality of the universality of our world Organization. Peace, security and development are too important to be the sole responsibility of a club of military, economic and 12 financial Powers. Africa, which now figures prominently among international initiatives and hopes to become an active partner in those initiatives, must play an important role within a reformed Security Council. Africa has countries that can play a decisive role in that regard. A large number of countries, including my own, that share the use of French with other States of the world very much hope that they can work in all United Nations bodies and agencies in their official language. The member States of the Organisation international de la Francophonie, which is increasingly establishing itself as an essential actor in world affairs, will make an additional contribution in the give-and-take process in the third millennium. In conclusion, I should like to express the confidence that Niger and its people have in the United Nations, which is trying very hard to be an institution that embodies hope on the basis of justice, equity, peace, freedom and progress. These values will build the coming twenty-first century we are expecting if the United Nations is stronger and more effective.