Cameroon

We are pleased to note that the annual sessions of the General Assembly are increasingly each year not only a special forum for discussing international affairs, but also and in particular an opportunity for the democratic expression of our shared experience, a time for each Member State of the Organization to freely state his or her views. In this context, Cameroon is particularly pleased that the presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session has been assumed by a fraternal country, Namibia. We regard it as highly symbolic that this role, at this delicate time of a bridge between two centuries and two millenniums, has been entrusted to you, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, worthy representative of Namibia, the last State in Africa to recover its sovereignty. My country fully associates itself with the praise addressed to you and we assure you of our full support as you exercise your difficult and lofty duties. I hardly need recall that your country's attainment of independence, just like the end of apartheid in South Africa, demonstrates what the United Nations and the international community are capable of. Cameroon wishes also to reiterate its full appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Didier Opertti, for the skill, devotion, effectiveness and open-mindedness he demonstrated throughout the fifty-third session. Finally, we wish to pay tribute to the Secretary- General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his continuing work to consolidate peace and combat poverty, and for his special attention to the problems of the African continent and the poorest regions or those in crisis. His outstanding report on the work of the Organization illustrates again this year the intelligence and determination that are his constant guides as he performs his duties. The work of the Secretary- General, carried out with an acute sense of the common interest of all Member States, deserves our support. Cameroon welcomes the new Members of the Organization: Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga. Their admission reinforces the universality of our Organization. Despite great progress in many areas, this last decade of the twentieth century has been marked, and continues to be marked, by less positive events in the world. More than ever before, therefore, we need to react, act and even act preventively, constantly and vigorously, in order to rectify an inappropriate course of events. There are still too many conflicts. Too much human blood has been shed. Too many men and women have their fundamental rights and freedoms flouted. There is too much poverty, even destitution, which is in stark contrast to an unparalleled opulence: Too many inequalities and too much interference and domination persist in inter-State relations. This succession of dangers is accentuated by the problems of epidemics and illiteracy, and recalls the vital need for greater solidarity between prosperous countries and developing countries, given the growing globalization of economies and the universal need for peace, democracy, prosperity, justice, the guarantee of fundamental human rights and the effective sovereignty of States. Cameroon therefore welcomes recent positive steps on the path to peace. I refer to the Middle East, with the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian agreement in Egypt. The resolution of the Kosovo crisis, and particularly the establishment of an administration guaranteed by our Organization, also deserves recognition. Cameroon encourages all actors in the Balkans and the Middle East to continue to advance resolutely towards lasting normalization. We are also very mindful of developments in East Timor, and we hope very much that wisdom will prevail — that is, that everyone will respect the process initiated under United Nations auspices. We welcome the holding in Maputo, Mozambique, of the First Meeting of the States Parties to the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. That meeting made it possible to continue the campaign to heighten the international community’s awareness of the need to ban these ghastly weapons for ever. These weapons continue, particularly in Africa, to indiscriminately mutilate children, women, the elderly, civilians and military personnel every day. Cameroon, in confirmation of its commitment to this great struggle, recently ratified the Convention. We welcome the results achieved in Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and Northern Ireland. These and other advances cannot, however, make us forget either the deadly conflicts that continue to destroy lives or the threats of holocaust that persist because of the lack of significant progress in the field of nuclear disarmament. 19 In this overall context, which remains full of elements, the proliferation of hotbeds of tension and conflict in Africa, particularly in Central Africa, is a major source of concern for Cameroon. That particular situation deserves more attention from the international community than ever before. Unfortunately, as the Secretary-General notes in his report, these African crises, no matter how grave, have basically been ignored. Is it conceivable that Somalia, fragmented and disorganized, with its helpless, starving, sick people, and now bereft of any viable state structure, could be purely and simply forgotten, abandoned and allowed to perish? Could the situation in Somalia today not be the fate of other countries on our continent and elsewhere? Should the international community abdicate its duty of solidarity with and assistance to Western Sahara, to the Sudan or in the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea? We deplore the continuing bloody destructive crisis in Angola. That disastrous civil war directly or indirectly destroys thousands of lives and systematically obliterates infrastructure every day; this, too, seems to have been forgotten by everyone. Since the withdrawal of the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA), the States members of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa, which for a year now has been chaired by Cameroon, is trying to do the impossible in order to prevent Angola from permanently locking itself up behind fratricidal closed doors in the face of this kind of widespread indifference. Together with some other regional and international diplomatic actors, the Standing Advisory Committee has also made many efforts to try to restore peace in Burundi, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, particularly through the resolute dissemination of a culture of peace. In this respect, Cameroon and all States Members of the Committee welcome the peace accords on the Democratic Republic of the Congo signed in July in Lusaka, Zambia. This came as a result of the doggedness and tenacity of African mediators, and it proves, if any proof is needed, that Africa, with the support of the international community, is able to overcome its difficulties. We wish to reiterate the solemn appeal of the Standing Advisory Committee to all signatories of these accords to see to it that the peace process is carried through. Cameroon is convinced that their determination to consolidate peace will be supported by the international community, in particular through the speedy and effective establishment of the peacekeeping force that the United Nations is planning to deploy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. No matter what the cost, we must eradicate wars and conflicts in Africa, particularly in Central Africa. We must halt the spiral of bloody confrontation and fighting in that subregion, which pits ethnic group blindly against ethnic group, political group against political group. It is not true that love of and devotion to one’s own people or faith in one’s own ideals must be proved by one’s hatred towards others. These grim tragedies, as we know, are not inevitable. Fundamentally, they are the result of practices to which Africa must put an end; otherwise, the continent will be for ever left out of humankind’s majestic march towards modernity. The diagnosis of the causes of this situation is already apparent: poverty, destitution, ignorance, the absence of good governance, the fragility of the nations and States concerned, and acts of interference of all kinds are at the heart of the problem. Together we can combat them and overcome them. This is why one of the priorities of Cameroon’s diplomacy, promoted by President Paul Biya, with the full endorsement of his peers, is to help guarantee peace, security, stability, democracy and prosperity for the 100 million women and men of Central Africa. This determination has guided our action as we head the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa. As we prepare to hand over the chairmanship to another fraternal country, we would like to recall the progress that member States have made together over the last 11 months in our quest to strengthen peace, security and stability in Central Africa. The most significant initiative undoubtedly was the threefold decision taken at the meetings in Yaoundé, on 25 February 1999, and in Malabo, on 24 June 1999, by 9 of the 11 heads of State of Central Africa, to establish the Council for Peace and Security in Central Africa (COPAX); to adopt the Yaoundé declaration on peace, security and stability in central Africa; and to integrate COPAX into the structures of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). Through this threefold decision, those heads of State have given our subregion a politico-diplomatic organ and ethical framework, as well as a code of conduct to meet the challenges of prevention, management and the lasting settlement of crises and 20 conflicts. The practical modalities for the functioning of COPAX are now being worked out in the secretariat of ECCAS. Since crisis and conflict prevention remain absolute priorities, the States of Central Africa have continued their efforts to establish an early warning mechanism. This structure has just acquired premises that serve as its headquarters in Libreville, Gabon. A number of other initiatives mark important progress for the establishment of peace and stability in Central Africa. I refer first to the decision taken in June at the Malabo summit by the heads of State of Central Africa to lend their prestige to the establishment of a subregional centre for the promotion of human rights and democracy. With the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, this centre will be both an observatory of realities and trends and a kind of think tank to produce recommendations on human rights and democracy. I wish, on behalf of the peoples of Central Africa, to welcome the encouragement shown by Mrs. Mary Robinson for this project, as well as the steps she has taken to follow up on the resolution adopted on this subject by the General Assembly at its fifty-third session. I also wish to refer to the establishment of a network of parliamentarians of Central Africa — an initiative that should lead to the establishment of a subregional parliament which will be both a democratic forum and a subregional platform for cooperation and harmonization of laws dealing with questions of peace, security and integration. I would also mention the establishment of the Central African Court of Justice, the seat of which will be in N’Djamena. I would like to refer to the high-level seminar held in Yaoundé from 19 to 21 July this year on the report of the Secretary-General on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa, proceeding from the desire and determination of the leaders of Central Africa to build peace and progress in the subregion. This high-profile meeting — which brought together parliamentarians, seasoned experts, civilians and military, men and women with experience representing civil society and non-governmental organizations and whose report was published by the United Nations — made it possible to identify ways and means for the specific implementation in Central Africa of the recommendations of the Secretary-General. The main actions recommended by the seminar to follow up the very frank diagnosis of the situation seek to promote effectively human rights, participative democracy, methods for the peaceful settlement of disputes, good governance, transparency, international humanitarian law and accelerated national and regional integration. The proliferation and illicit circulation of small arms and light weapons in the region is another major concern for the member countries of the Committee because they threaten their stability. A subregional conference will be held on this subject at the end of October in N’Djamena under the aegis of the Committee and with United Nations support. It will make it possible for member States to assess the scale, causes, mechanisms and consequences of this phenomenon and to envisage specific steps to be taken. All of these actions — in particular the establishment of COPAX, the early warning mechanism, the subregional human rights centre, the parliament and the Central African Court of Justice — are challenges, not merely for Central Africa itself, but clearly for the entire international community. They will be priority areas for fruitful bilateral and multilateral cooperation at the threshold of the new millennium. That is certainly the wish of the peoples of Central Africa. The design of a subregional policy for peace, stability, democracy and development in Central Africa is partly related to the domestic policy of Cameroon. The head of State has always believed that there is no crisis that cannot be resolved peacefully through dialogue, pooling of efforts and especially through respect for the law. It is this conviction that prompted Cameroon to stress the search for a settlement through legal means of the dispute with the Federal Republic of Nigeria regarding the land and maritime border. In this year which marks the closing of the United Nations Decade of International Law, we must forcefully reaffirm our total support for the rule of law in inter-State relations and the peaceful settlement of disputes, including through jurisdictional means when other mechanisms have proved to be ineffectual. That is why we urge the international community to continue to help our two countries, Cameroon and Nigeria, to adopt effective measures to strengthen peace and the climate of 21 confidence which has emerged following the contacts at the highest level which have taken place this year. Pending the verdict of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, three of these measures could be taken right now: a solemn declaration of commitment to abide by the Court’s decision, withdrawal of armed forces from the battlefield to positions which they held before the outbreak of fighting, and the lifting by Nigeria of its recent reservations about the optional clause regarding binding jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, reservations which negate an international society based on law. The positive winds of change now blowing across Nigeria, following the coming to power of the democratically elected civilian regime, give us enormous hope. Through the work it did last year, Cameroon, like other States in Central Africa, is resolutely committed to saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war. But we did more than that. We also determined for the sake of future generations to protect the environment and to safeguard the natural resources. An example of this was the summit on conservation and sustainable forest development organized last March in Yaoundé in the presence of heads of State and Government of the subregion and a distinguished host, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who is past President of the World Wide Fund for Nature. Four resolutions were adopted by the heads of State and Government of Central Africa to preserve and extend the millions of hectares of forest in our subregion. They undertook to conserve and manage the forests of Central Africa in a sustainable manner to safeguard our rich biodiversity. They then undertook, in particular, to protect new transnational forest zones in the Congo basin. Then the major partners and donors agreed to provide financial and technical assistance to implement the resolutions and commitments adopted at the Yaoundé summit. Finally, the summit participants agreed that good forest management is an important part of work for sustainable development in Central Africa. However, in the areas of the protection, conservation and sustainable management of forests and biodiversity, a profound dilemma has arisen. Central Africa is, after the Amazon region of South America, the second largest forested area of the world whose natural characteristics are decisive for the balance of the biosphere and the ecosystems of the entire planet. The accelerated and mindless destruction of this forest would in fact be a direct way to prepare for the disappearance of all life on earth. In a word, the forests of Central Africa are the lungs of the world. Following the Yaoundé summit, the senior officials of Central Africa and the peoples concerned became clearly aware of their duty to all humankind, a duty that should be reflected in the sound conservation and management of forests and the diverse resources they contain. But at the same time, the experts rightly noted that this would involve extremely heavy and increasingly higher costs. The costs of protecting species, reforestation and reintroducing animals, as well as the administrative costs involved in the functioning of the institutions needed to do those jobs, will be an additional burden on the already meagre resources of the countries of our subregion. This is why we believe that it would only be right for the whole of humankind — for which we are making this vital sacrifice of forest and biodiversity conservation — to find the ways and means to support us in this work for the common good. This could be done by providing matching funds or, better yet, by bringing about genuine global action under the guidance of the United Nations and financed by a fund for the preservation and sustainable management of forests and biodiversity in Central Africa. That fund would support all the important preliminary work to be done in this essential area of globalization. We will be submitting a draft resolution on this subject for the kind consideration of the General Assembly. When Cameroon campaigns with other States for the protection of the environment and for the safeguarding of natural resources, we do so very mindful of the long term, which has meaning only in relation to the future of mankind, and of younger generations in particular. We are all the more conscious of the importance of the legacy we will leave for the adults of tomorrow because more than 46 per cent of the population of Cameroon will reach adulthood at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The proportion of our children who are today under 15 years of age, like all men and women of the world in the next century, have a legitimate right to demand of us, as the most important part of our legacy, peace, security and stability in freedom and development and in a healthy environment. That is why, in conclusion, I wish to 22 address our partners in the prosperous countries, particularly the Group of Eight. I wish first of all to say how much we appreciate the steps that have been taken this year to reduce the debt burden of the poorest countries, particularly those in our continent. According to the Secretary-General, the African debt burden represents more than 300 per cent of the value of goods and services exported from the region. Therefore, the spirit of solidarity in the Group of Eight, which is a good sign, must be pursued and consolidated while taking into account the situation of the so-called medium-income countries. That spirit of solidarity must be resolutely continued and take root in all other developed countries. The Secretary-General's in-depth coverage of many subjects in his report calls for us to reflect on them. I will take up just one of these subjects: AIDS. Like other pandemics, AIDS not only jeopardizes the future of millions of African men and women, it is also a mortal danger for all humankind. To show a lack of concern for its ravages in Africa, no matter what part of the world one comes from, would be suicidal indifference. The future of the world is more indivisible than ever before. The choice can no longer be postponed — the choice between the universal common good and the chaos caused by poverty, destitution, ignorance, injustice, the absence of good governance, interference, wars, et cetera. The end of this century shows every sign of serving as a loud and clear call to the whole of mankind, but first and foremost to the leaders of nations. The end of the century has made hope possible and has brought about the global advancement of the values of peace, democracy, solidarity and the struggle for human rights. These principles must not merely guide each nation; we believe that they should also inspire the relations between nations. The staunch resolve of all countries to promote these principles together is the only guarantee of a better future for humanity. In order to bring this about, mankind as a whole — increasingly more united and in solidarity under the banner of the United Nations — has a duty to provide speedy assistance wherever the life and dignity of the human being have been seriously undermined or threatened. Accordingly, it is clear that the international community, assembled within the United Nations, has an inalienable, inviolate and sacred right to act. This universal right to act, whose letter, spirit, legality and legitimacy come from the Charter itself, is the reflection and the inevitable consequence of the changes occurring in the world today. Clearly, it excludes any form of interference. A new world has thus been born; we must acknowledge this from now on. The Millennium Assembly and the Millennium Summit, to be held in the year 2000, should embody the spirit of that new world and set it in order.