Chad

On behalf of the Chad delegation, and on my own behalf, I would like to extend warm congratulations to you, Mr. President, on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session. This is both a tribute to your country, Namibia, for its contribution in defending the ideals of our Organization and a recognition of your considerable ability. The delegation of Chad is firmly convinced that your experience, talents and wisdom will contribute to the success of our deliberations. We assure you of our full support and cooperation in the accomplishment of your noble mission. I would also like to express our gratitude to your predecessor, Mr. Didier Opertti of Uruguay, who tactfully and adroitly led the work of the fifty-third session. Allow me also to praise the merits of our Secretary- General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for the foresight, wisdom and, above all, patience with which he is guiding the Organization, as well as for his sustained efforts in seeking international peace and security, despite all kinds of difficulties and the immensity of his tasks. In a few months we will enter the third millennium, a millennium filled with uncertainties, fears and unknowns, but also one of hope. That millennium will be characterized by globalization and, above all, the domination of human intelligence over nature. It will be an era of communications in which our planet will shrink to a tiny area. It will also mean the disappearance of barriers to the circulation of ideas, knowledge, culture and science. But it will also be an era of competition and complementarity. During this century, the aspirations of most peoples was to be fed, clothed, cared for, educated, trained, housed and gainfully employed. It is legitimate to hope that with the arrival of the coming century these essential, basic human needs will be met, so that we can avoid a further widening of the gap between wealthy and poor countries. On the eve of the third millennium, we must acknowledge that the lofty objectives of the United Nations, primarily the maintenance of international peace and security and the reduction of poverty among Member States, are far from being attained, although we have been focusing on them for half a century. How can we not ask ourselves these kinds of questions at this great annual gathering, where the scope and urgency of political and economic problems are made so clear? It is time to contemplate solutions that include 21 new kinds of relationships, based on solidarity and partnership, that go beyond the traditional relations of cooperation, which have proved their limitations. Turning more specifically to Chad, our major concern is to create conditions of peace and security through a fully participatory political process that involves the various political parties in the management of public affairs and in the national reconciliation policy for all the people of Chad. The involvement in this approach of all segments of society has enabled our country to restore political stability and civil peace and to establish constitutional and democratic institutions. We are firmly convinced that a democracy can be effective only when it is based on certain republican concepts, primarily justice, the primacy of human rights and the participation of local communities in the management of their own affairs. The recent establishment of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Council speak to this major concern, as does that of the National Commission on Human Rights, in operation since 1994. These efforts were acknowledged and led the United Nations Commission on Human Rights last April to end its consideration of the human rights situation in Chad and consequently remove our country from the confidential procedural situation it had been in since March 1991. Finally, our Government has undertaken a decentralization policy aimed at implementing the choice made by the people of Chad, as reflected in the Constitution of 11 April 1996, through the establishment of decentralized territorial communities and the gradual transfer of authority. In an effort to consolidate peace and reinforce social cohesion, the Government of Chad has focused on two questions: the army and anti-personnel mines. With respect to the thorny problems relating to the army and security, our Government has undertaken to ensure professional training for demobilized former combatants in order to redeploy them to new jobs, to provide them support in developing income-generating skills and to see to it that their basic needs are met. With respect to security issues, we have set up a demining programme that should contribute to increasing the safety of the national territory, where approximately a million mines and an indeterminate amount of ammunition of all calibres remain buried, thereby helping to open up Chad, especially the northern part of the country. The presence of these dangerous devices seriously impedes the movement of goods and people and hence the development of the regions concerned. In this regard, my country has signed and ratified the Ottawa Convention and has set up national structures supervised by the National High Commissioner for Demining in order effectively to combat these lethal devices. The objectives of that programme focus, inter alia, on reducing the number of victims, making the main roads safer, promoting economic and social development and facilitating the return of displaced persons. The implementation of this ambitious demining programme, whose dimensions extend beyond the borders of our country, cannot be done without the assistance of our partners and friends. That is why we wish to appeal once again from this lofty rostrum to the solidarity of Member States of our Organization and to ask them to provide us with assistance and cooperation. On the eve of the twenty-first century, the welfare of the country's citizens remains the motivating force for governmental action in Chad. That action is based on the ambitious reforms undertaken since 1995 and focuses primarily on a modern and dynamic economy. In point of fact, following devaluation in 1994, Chad rejoined the Bretton Woods institutions and on 23 April 1995 adopted a structural adjustment programme for the medium term, with resources provided by the International Monetary Fund in the framework of its Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility and by the World Bank in terms of structural-adjustment credit, and with financial assistance from our usual partners — France, the European Union and the African Development Bank. Bold reforms have been undertaken that focus primarily on stabilizing public finance, correcting external imbalances and ensuring sustainable growth. To this end we instituted an effective policy to combat poverty. Our Government has drafted and adopted a new sustainable development programme focusing on three major challenges: economic and financial, social, and political and institutional. The goal is to create a climate of social stability through sustained structural reform and through fiscal, monetary and budgetary policies that will contribute to a macro-economic consolidation and to controlling inflation. This fight against poverty focuses on four strategic priority elements in the areas of health, education, infrastructure and rural development. In this undertaking we have received support from the international 22 community at the fourth round table on Chad, held in Geneva on 21 and 22 October 1998, where some $1.12 billion was pledged. In this regard, I wish to express our deepest gratitude to friendly countries and international financial organizations and institutions for their strong response to our appeal for international solidarity. The people of Chad will never forget those commendable efforts. Following that round table, we organized two sectoral meetings, on health and on rural development. Meetings on infrastructure and education will take place in the near future. We reiterate our appeal to all interested parties to participate actively in these meetings, which will be held in N'Djamena in November and December 1999, respectively. One cannot speak of Chad's economy today without referring to the question of the exploitation of its oil resources. This is a key political, diplomatic and socio- economic issue that has fueled heated discussions both inside and outside the country. In addition to its undeniable economic importance, this project will contribute significantly to subregional integration because it establishes a partnership between two brotherly countries, namely Cameroon and Chad. In this respect, we have taken into account the development difficulties that Chad is facing, and we are considering our future in terms of petroleum-related issues with a great deal of caution. The Government and the Parliament of Chad have already set up management and distribution mechanisms for the anticipated oil income. For the first time ever in the history of the exploitation of oil deposits, legislation has been enacted to guarantee transparency in the management of oil revenue and also to set aside some of that income for territorial communities in the oil-producing regions and for future generations. The oil activity is an exceptional opportunity, which should contribute to the gradual rebalancing of our budget and give us room for manoeuvre to establish a true policy for development. This project has rightly raised hopes throughout the country. We are all firmly convinced that new efforts and many sacrifices are required to ensure the gradual implementation of the purposes and principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter as they relate to disputes between a considerable number of Member States as well as to other equally challenging evils that continue to trouble the human conscience. How can we remain indifferent when confronted with the scourges of poverty, illiteracy, foreign aggression, conflict, various pandemics and transnational problems associated with the degradation of the environment and drug trafficking? Unfortunately, these challenges will further increase with globalization, which is now inevitable. Africa is the continent that has been most exposed to those evils, and the growing number of crises is causing our efforts to be spread too thinly and reducing the meagre resources available and dividing our countries. The interdependence of peace and socio-economic development needs no further proof, especially in Chad, which has experienced the torments of war, its disastrous effects on the population and its repercussions on social and economic life. Out of a sense of duty and international obligation, my country has made and will continue to make enormous sacrifices for other African countries that have fallen victim to the problems inherent in coexistence. That is why we have participated in various peacekeeping operations in the subregion of Central Africa. In this context, I am pleased to recall Operation Turquoise, in which Chad participated to save lives in Rwanda. Chad also contributed to the Inter- African Mission to Monitor the Implementation of the Bangui Agreements and the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic, which sought a negotiated solution between the Government of the Central African Republic and a part of the rebel army, and which resulted in bringing together different viewpoints opinions and establishing conditions required for the organization of multi-party elections. In that same spirit, my country intervened in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our involvement, together with that of other countries, enabled the situation to be stabilized and promoted dialogue between the warring parties. With the signing of the Syrte accords on 18 April 1999, Chad withdrew its troops from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The signing of the Lusaka ceasefire agreement by all the parties in conflict has opened up new prospects for that brotherly people. Chad hopes that that agreement, which the Security Council has endorsed, will lead to a definitive peace in that country and the entire Great Lakes region. Chad will support that process. The tragedy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has not made us lose sight of the situation in the Republic of the Congo, which was recently on the verge of breaking up. Now passion seems to be giving way to reason. We welcome the will shown by both the Government of Congo and the opposition parties, who have taken the wise decision to negotiate to restore peace 23 to their country. Chad welcomes and encourages this positive development. To this rather sombre picture we must add the fragile situation in Angola, where the civil war has resumed throughout the national territory. This is of great concern for all of Africa, particularly since the resumption of hostilities will undoubtedly mean the failure of the considerable efforts made on all sides to bring peace to that country, which has been ravaged by a long war, thus prolonging the suffering of the Angolan people. We appeal to the Security Council to assist in restoring peace to that wounded country. We welcome the tireless efforts of the Economic Community of West African States to bring peace and security to West Africa. Those efforts have led to the signing of the ceasefire agreements in Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau. All the parties involved in those crises should show restraint and work towards reconciliation in the higher interests of their peoples. With regard to the Horn of Africa, we note that there has been no obvious progress in the willingness of the parties involved in the conflict in Somalia to find a political solution leading to national unity. While we welcome the efforts of Mr. Hosni Mubarak aimed at a negotiated resolution of the crisis, we also appeal to the Somali leaders to assist in restoring peace to their country. We regret the resumption of hostilities between the Ethiopians and Eritreans, which has led to a considerable loss of life and material damage. We urge all those who have mediated between the warring parties to persevere so as to put an end to those hostilities, which have further exacerbated an already disturbing situation. Closer to home, Chad welcomes the decision of the Security Council to suspend the embargo against the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. We urge that the sanctions be lifted once and for all; they have seriously damaged the interests of the brotherly people of that neighbouring country. Of all the continents, Africa seems to have suffered the most from the economic crisis and from wars and other conflict situations. But we have not forgotten the major problems that other peoples are facing. With regard to the situation in the Middle East, it has already been established that the question of Palestine is at the heart of the conflict. Its resolution lies in the implementation of the Oslo accords and, in particular, in full respect by all the parties for United Nations resolutions. The credibility of the Security Council is at stake. With the arrival of a new Israeli Government, there is new hope for the future. Chad encourages all the parties to work together in the same direction. Elsewhere, the effects of the conflicts between Iraq and Kuwait and between Iraq and Iran persist, hampering the final return to peace. We appeal to the sense of responsibility of the former warring parties to work tirelessly to restore full peace. In the Balkans, Chad encourages the efforts of the international community to restore peace to the region, and in particular to Kosovo. As for East Timor, we urge all the parties involved to complete the process begun under the auspices of the United Nations so as to end the suffering of the people there. In Asia, Chad is concerned about the fate of the Republic of China on Taiwan and its 22 million inhabitants. The Republic of China on Taiwan, which plays a major role in world trade, is a peace-loving country that fulfils the obligations in the United Nations Charter, as it has shown on many occasions. Chad supports the admission of the Republic of China on Taiwan to the United Nations as a means of correcting an injustice. It is well known that a number of conflicts stem from the unbridled arms race. In this regard, the circulation, proliferation of and illicit trafficking in small arms in Africa is of concern to us, particularly since this phenomenon, the result of the end of the cold war and numerous conflicts in the continent, has taken a disturbing turn. If appropriate solutions are not found soon, peace, security and stability in our countries will be constantly threatened. To address this situation, a conference on small arms and drug trafficking will take place in Chad under the auspices of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa; it will be followed immediately by the twelfth ministerial meeting of that Committee. Those two important meetings will be held at Ndjamena from 25 to 30 October 1999. Chad is honoured to act as host to the Committee and will do everything in its power to ensure the success of its work. The United Nations was founded in a historical context with which we are all familiar. It has been and 24 remains a place for bringing people and ideas closer together, and its very existence has helped avert more than one catastrophe. But the international political and economic environment has changed, and the great rivalry of the cold war has disappeared, giving way to an international system that is still finding itself. We now see an increased desire by Member States to participate in the management of international affairs in addition to the management of their own. United Nations structures must therefore be adapted to the new scope of today’s problems, which requires an equal sharing of international responsibilities; these must no longer be the monopoly of a few States, however powerful they may be. To respond to these concerns, the Security Council must be reformed. Here, Chad wholeheartedly supports the position of the Organization of African Unity that, inter alia, there must be equitable and legitimate representation on the Security Council for the African continent. With respect to the global economy and world trade, appropriate steps must be taken to ensure that the all States will share equally in the benefits of globalization. Globalization of the economy certainly can have the advantage of eliminating all discriminatory and unfair practices in world trade, but it must be recognized that the lack of competitive power of the economies of the countries of the South does not enable them to benefit fully from this. Moreover, the unbridled liberalization of markets and the lack of measures to consolidate certain gains are weakening their economies and marginalizing them in the world arena. Similarly, the indebtedness of those countries places a heavy burden on their meagre budgetary resources, and wipes out all their development efforts. I welcome the recent decision taken by the Group of Seven at its summit held at Cologne, Germany, to ease the debt of heavily indebted poor countries. Such initiatives are praiseworthy, but they remain insufficient. Chad urges the wealthy countries to make a greater effort to enable poor countries finally to address the external-debt burden, which is a true obstacle to economic and social development.