Swaziland

I bring with me from the Kingdom of Swaziland the greetings and good wishes of His Majesty King Mswati III, Her Majesty the Indlovukazi and Queen Mother, the Government and the whole Swazi nation to our friends and fellow Members here at the United Nations. On behalf of the Kingdom of Swaziland, may I congratulate you most sincerely, Sir, on your election to the presidency of this fifty-first session of the General Assembly. We are confident that the wisdom, experience and diplomatic skills you bring to this office will ensure success in the important business before us. Swaziland would also like to congratulate your predecessor, Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral, who presided with such skill over the historic fiftieth session. I should also like to record the deep gratitude of the Swazi nation to our Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and to the staff of the Secretariat for their untiring efforts in meeting the many challenges that face our Organization as we prepare to enter a new millennium. One year ago, His Majesty King Mswati III joined other leaders from around the world to celebrate the first 50 years of achievement of the United Nations, to set out a vision for the future and to reaffirm the commitment of the Kingdom of Swaziland to the principles set out in our Organization’s founding Charter. Swaziland recognizes the vital role the Organization has played throughout its history, and we remain convinced that the United Nations represents humankind’s best hope of providing global leadership and guidance towards achieving the conditions of universal peace and security that will allow equitable and sustainable development for all our peoples. Last year’s occasion was seen by many as an opportunity to review the internal mechanisms of our Organization and to call for greater efficiency, accountability and representation in all areas of its work. Swaziland is therefore encouraged by the progress being made by the various working groups established by the General Assembly, in particular progress towards the reform of the Secretariat and Security Council. We will continue to support all initiatives that bring about a more efficient and cost-effective Organization. As the Organization’s membership has increased over the years, so has the scope of its operations and responsibilities. It is an unfortunate fact that our will to face these new challenges has not been met by a corresponding desire to pay for the means to overcome them. We are faced with a stark choice between whether to accept new responsibilities and the bill they attract, or admit that we lack the financial commitment to meet them. The Kingdom of Swaziland has always believed in the principle of meeting our financial responsibilities in full and on time. We fully endorse the Secretary- General’s call to our fellow Members to do likewise, so that the United Nations can have the resources at its disposal to perform the tasks that we expect of it. The Kingdom of Swaziland has been most encouraged by recent developments towards the eventual elimination of weapons of mass destruction. The negotiations leading up to and the signing of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty by an overwhelming majority brings great credit to our Organization and to those whose hard work made it possible. While we recognize and are deeply grateful for the humanitarian assistance provided to Africa by the United Nations, we believe that the Organization needs to do more to strike at the causes of the hardship suffered by so many Africans who find themselves caught up in the horror of war. One important issue concerns the flow of weapons into Africa from many other parts of the world. It is a simple fact in today’s world that arms, ammunition and armaments are too easily accessible to those with the means to procure them. The duration of conflict situations can be limited by the non-availability of the weapons of war. It has been suggested that the first action of a truly caring world in response to a conflict situation should be to cut off the supply of arms to all involved, and that the final responsibility of a caring world towards a country that has endured conflict is the clearance of the last landmine. This is a lesson we learned very late in recent disasters such as the Bosnian crisis and in Rwanda. We have clearly not learned from it in other situations around the world. Let us hope that the global community 8 represented here can move faster in future to impose limitations on man’s ability to harm his fellow man. We in Africa recognize the need to be prepared for immediate reaction to our continent’s problems and are taking the necessary steps to abide by the principle of “African solutions to Africa’s problems”. The example of Burundi shows our continent’s desire to heed the warning signs and to ward off potential disasters before they happen. The Kingdom of Swaziland commends the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and those individual countries whose diplomacy and actions have prevented the situation from spiralling out of control. The Organization of African Unity has also been at the forefront in attempting to resolve crisis situations in Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and Liberia. We join the rest of the world in applauding these efforts, and we continue to offer our encouragement and support in bringing about an end to the suffering of those involved. The OAU represents the hope of all Africans for unity, peace and development, and deserves to be supported strongly by the rest of the world. On a subregional basis, and in the field of economic and trade cooperation, the Kingdom of Swaziland is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. SADC has recently expanded its mandate to include a new Organ on Politics, Defence and Security. This is an attempt to provide a mechanism by which member States can call for advice and support from other members in the event of national and international issues that might threaten the stability of the whole subregion. The new organ is founded on the principle of the recognition of the sovereignty of independent States and is intended precisely to identify potential problems, in whatever context, and to look for solutions to persistent concerns in our area. The organ provides an example of our subregion’s commitment to peace and stability within and among our member States as essential conditions for the development of our separate nations. It deserves the support and encouragement of the rest of the world. The Kingdom of Swaziland has been heartened by the various initiatives of the United Nations towards an improvement in global socio-economic conditions. The establishment of an international criminal court is welcomed by Swaziland as a necessary extension of justice in cases where national jurisdiction does not apply. This step relies for its success on the political will of all States and requires the widest possible representation of Members in its operation. Similarly, the Kingdom of Swaziland welcomes the move by the United Nations to address the increasing threat posed to civil society by organized crime and money-laundering. Of particular danger to Swaziland in this regard is the increase in traffic across our borders and abuse among our people of illegal drugs and related substances. This is a relatively new and alarming phenomenon for our Kingdom and undermines our efforts to promote national development. We therefore welcome the report of the Secretary-General on promoting international cooperation in the fight against the illegal drug trade, and we are appreciative of the high priority this subject attracts in the relevant agencies of the Organization. This effort has been matched by a similar initiative within our own SADC organization to encourage cross- border cooperation among our security personnel and to agree on measures among the Member States to contain this potentially devastating problem. It has been acknowledged that the continent of Africa presents particular challenges in the quest for sustainable development and a decent standard of living for all its peoples. With this in mind, the Kingdom of Swaziland gave an enthusiastic welcome to the Secretary-General’s initiative on the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s. It was hoped that the Agenda would provide fresh impetus for change and for the good of the people of Africa, but for many reasons this remains an elusive dream. While social and economic conditions in many areas of the continent continue to decline, we are comforted by the fact that efforts are being made to identify the reasons why so many commitments continue to remain on paper and why some are implemented, but slowly. Swaziland echoes the call from all African brothers and sisters for real commitment to the New Agenda for the Development of Africa so that future generations of 9 Africans will not be locked into the same spiral of despair that many people on our continent find themselves in. It is to avoid being caught in this very situation that the Kingdom of Swaziland has always worked hard to ensure that our people are at the centre of all our national development efforts. To this end the Kingdom frequently consults with all its people on all the most important development issues. Each and every Swazi has a voice and is given the opportunity to express his or her views on the matters that affect them. In recent times we have consulted in this way with the nation on our political direction and our economic priorities. Currently we are addressing ourselves to a review of our Constitution. A constitutional review committee has been established, representing the widest range of views, which will now consult with the nation and gather the people’s wishes on the way they would like to see their country managed. All will be free to contribute, and we will abide by the views of the majority. The end result will be the Kingdom’s defining document, and it will, in a very real sense, be the people’s Constitution. This current consultation exercise is the latest example of our nation’s adherence to the principle of rule through consensus, and it is one that has served us well throughout our history. In a world where the definition of such concepts as human rights and democracy can vary so greatly and is so dependent on timing and circumstances, the Kingdom of Swaziland has had a consistent vision of what is really required of its rulers by its people: to provide the freedom and opportunity for all Swazis to offer an opinion on the great matters of the day and for our leaders to be bound by the wishes of the majority. We owe our survival as a nation to this principle, and we will continue to abide by it for as long as it suits us. For the past three years the Kingdom of Swaziland has given its support to efforts by the Republic of China on Taiwan to have its case presented to the General Assembly. As the world concentrates its attention on the great social challenges facing us all today, we must surely acknowledge the need to engage all peoples of the world in a truly global effort to overcome them. Indeed, the Charter speaks of the requirement for universality in our Organization so that all may feel represented here. The 23 million people of the Republic of China on Taiwan believe they can contribute significantly to this effort and have already shown that they are willing to do so in many areas of expertise, including poverty alleviation, private enterprise development and humanitarian assistance. Many countries have acknowledged this will on the part of the Government and the people of the Republic of China on Taiwan, and the recent political developments in Taiwan have encouraged many others to support our call. We are positive that a lasting solution can be found to resolve this question. Hence, we support the idea of the General Assembly establishing an ad hoc committee to address the question of the readmittance of the Republic of China on Taiwan into the United Nations. The Kingdom of Swaziland continues to place its confidence in the United Nations and in the principles on which it was founded. We remain deeply grateful for the assistance we have received over the years from its agencies, and we look forward to many more years of cooperation and support. For 51 years, and despite the many obstacles in its path, the United Nations has presented to successive generations the only chance for a united, global approach to the world’s problems. We are reassured by the initiatives for reform in the Organization and look forward to a new dynamism and efficiency in its operations. I am charged by His Majesty King Mswati III, by Her Majesty the Indlovukazi, the Queen Mother, and by the Government and the people of the Kingdom of Swaziland, with proclaiming the renewal of our commitment to the founding Charter of the Organization. We ask for Almighty God’s blessing on its leaders and those who work here, to give them the wisdom and direction they need to carry out their vital tasks on behalf of all humankind.