Madagascar

In common with the speakers preceding me, I should like to congratulate you upon your election to the presidency of the fifty-first session of the General Assembly. We see it not only as a recognition of your personal qualities, but also, and above all, the consecration of the distinguished part played by your country in the international arena. Through your person, the honour that derives from your election is shared with the member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement, which gives us particular pride. I would like to assure you of the complete cooperation and full support of the delegation of Madagascar, which it is my privilege to lead. My congratulations also go to the other members of the General Committee, to whom we wish every success in their work. Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to express to your predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral, our warm gratitude for all the efforts that he made during his term as President of the Assembly at its fiftieth session. I would like to assure him that we followed closely and with interest the activities and contacts which he undertook on behalf of our Organization and in order to further its objectives. The disappearance of the political and ideological divisions arising from the cold war gave birth to hopes for greater international security, stability, peace and prosperity, so that the international community could henceforth focus its efforts on the establishment of a just, equitable and truly multilateral and non-discriminatory international order, and on the strengthening of cooperation for international development. These hopes, however, not been fulfilled. A feeling of anxiety prevails in the face of the imbalances, insecurity, tensions and contradictions clouding the prospects for peace and economic development. The forces of conflict have grown to dangerous proportions as they have spilled over frontiers, and have assumed various forms such as terrorism, separatism, fundamentalism, intolerance and xenophobia. Similarly, the interdependent world economy continues to be dominated by uncertainty, imbalances and recession. Negative economic growth rates, persistent imbalances in the commercial and financial fields, increased transitional or structural unemployment, and an absence of coordination in exchange rates and trade policies — these are some of the problems connected with the system of the developed world which have an adverse impact on the developing countries. For in fact the resources allocated to cooperation for development have fallen, on the pretext that up to now this has achieved nothing for the beneficiary countries, including our countries in Africa, whose priorities, at both national and continental level, have been to relieve absolute, endemic poverty, to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, to overcome disease and illiteracy, and to meet the needs for housing and sanitation. In this connection, just as we welcomed Habitat II last June in Istanbul, we commend the initiative of the Director- General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to convene the World Food Summit next November in Rome, to sensitize international opinion to the problem of hunger in the world, thereby reviving interest in the subject that has apparently waned. Thus it is clear that the world today is confronted with urgent social and economic problems which, at the national, regional and international levels, require efforts and the implementation of policies and measures that can provide urgent solutions. The future of world trade, financial and monetary regimes, economic growth and social development, as well as human rights, the environment and population in relation to development, are vital issues that inextricably link the fate and destiny of all countries. It is therefore comforting to recall the solemn commitment made by the international community on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, on the night of 24 October 1995, to mobilize in the quest for peace, security, development and stability. In order to attain these objectives and successfully discharge the functions assigned to it in the Charter, the United Nations needs to be reformed in order to adjust to a world in constant change. With respect to the increase in the membership of the Security Council, the principle is accepted in general, if for no other reason than to respond to the increase in the number of United Nations Member States. The proposals put forward in this context are as interesting as they are varied, each invoking praiseworthy objectives, depending on one’s viewpoint. Thus the Italian proposal, drawing on the principle established in Article 23 of the Charter, highlights the need to favour the geographical regions that are currently under-represented. This comes close to the concern of countries such as Madagascar, which wholly subscribes to the decision taken by the African summit in July 1996, namely that the Security Council must become more representative in nature and reflect the composition of the Organization in a new international system, so as to correct the geographical imbalance that now characterizes it and make it a genuine organ for the execution of the General Assembly’s resolutions. The African position gives priority for the time being to an increase in the number of members. both permanent and non-permanent. This restructuring of the Security Council should allocate two new permanent seats to Africa, three to Asia, two to Latin America and the Caribbean, and one to the European and other States. With respect to the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations, Madagascar associates itself with the chorus of all African countries, through the Declaration of Yaoundé, which reaffirmed Africa’s right to a second term in the Secretary-General’s post, as has been the practice since the creation of the Organization. Accordingly, Madagascar supports the re-election of Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, one of whose main objectives has been to identify and elaborate concrete proposals for the recovery and development of Africa so as to make the United Nations system’s support to the continent as effective as possible. In that context, the support of the international community as a whole is a must. We take note of the progress achieved in resolving the debt problem and in the implementation of the Naples terms, as well as the recommendations made by the Group of Seven summit convened in Lyon in June 1996. The developing countries, particularly in Africa, certainly need substantial international support, but it is above all the responsibility of our leaders and peoples to make the necessary changes to create a suitable sociopolitical climate for development on a large scale. Thus we have no choice but to continue to work, by ourselves to begin with, to achieve collective self-reliance at the national, regional and continental levels. For its part, Madagascar, which has just completed its economic policy framework document, hopes in the near future to benefit from additional measures from its creditors going beyond the Naples terms to give a fresh impetus to its development. Indeed, in today’s world of multidimensional interdependence, any failure in development can only harm us all, rich and poor alike, since poverty is defined in terms of collective responsibility and the rights of every individual. In the field of human rights, efforts must be stepped up to translate into real action the 1992 Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, adopted by the General Assembly. 2 With respect to the challenges arising in the Middle East, Bosnia and Northern Ireland, we note that we are advancing in the right direction. Madagascar is attentively following the recent phases, particularly as regards the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Moreover, like all peoples of the world, we reaffirm our wish to see the peaceful reunification of Korea. In the face of the situation obtaining in the Western Sahara after the Security Council’s decision of May 1996, Madagascar remains concerned. The frequent setbacks experienced by the conventional approach to peacekeeping should persuade us to persevere in our efforts to prevent conflict and give subregional structures responsibility for the maintenance of peace, as advocated in the United Nations Secretary-General’s Agenda for Peace, and as applied by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution. Against this background, the General Assembly should be given appropriate powers to have access to mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of conflicts. The mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of conflicts should be strengthened in the light of the provisions advocated in the Agenda for Peace. When peace is restored, the role of United Nations forces as a buffer in international, civil or ethnic conflicts should also be strengthened. Madagascar intends to participate concretely in peacekeeping operations. Regional structures for conflict resolution, such as those that exist within the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity and the Non-Aligned Movement, should again be strengthened. For us, the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution has proved its usefulness in Africa in a number of cases, inter alia, through the intervention of regional units of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Inter- Governmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD), which have operated respectively in sub-Saharan Africa and in the Sahel. Madagascar fully subscribes to this approach, as is borne out by its direct involvement in the mediation process for the settlement of the Comorian conflict in 1995. The signing of the Pelindaba Text of the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty this year attests to the willingness of the African countries to banish all nuclear weapons from their soil. Madagascar, faithful to its principles, is now initiating the procedure for accession to this Treaty. It is in this connection that Madagascar has just signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Similarly, my country also considers that the extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is an initial response to the major challenges of our time in the area of nuclear proliferation and arms limitation. In the environmental sphere, after the legitimate concerns expressed by Heads of State and Government at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, energetic measures must be taken through a common commitment by all countries. There is no need to demonstrate that environmental problems know neither political nor natural boundaries. Nevertheless, at the domestic level, it must be emphasized that people are not always sensitive to the almost irreconcilable concepts of conservation and protection and meeting basic needs (heating, fuel, fisheries resources, etc.). It is in the light of these considerations that Madagascar has opted for a gradual approach regarding its accession to international environmental conventions. Thus the country has set up a basic framework for environmental policy, termed the Environmental Charter. It has drawn up an environmental programme in three stages phased over a 15-year period; negotiations for multi-donor financing of this programme have just been completed in September in Paris. With respect to international conventions, Madagascar has ratified the main Conventions, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations International Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. As it implements these various Conventions, Madagascar wishes to enlist the participatory involvement of its people, and thus apply the principle of “Think globally — act locally”. Lastly, one year after the Beijing Conference and one year after the Copenhagen summit, I would not wish to conclude without recalling Madagascar’s efforts in the social sphere, as demonstrated by the permanent structures within successive Governments for the benefit of women, children and social problems in general. 3 At the dawn of the twenty-first century, Madagascar, like all nations on earth, aspires to a world of peace and progress in which the scourges of war, poverty and destruction will be banished forever. The United Nations is the ideal place to build such a world, provided that all peoples and all leaders have the necessary political will and transform into reality all the promises made. That is the Malagasy delegation’s ardent hope.