Chad

First of all, I would like to congratulate you, Sir, on behalf of my delegation, upon your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at this session. Your selection is not only a recognition of the contributions of your country, Malaysia, in the defence of the ideals of the United Nations but is also a confirmation of your talents as an experienced diplomat. Allow me also to express my thanks to your predecessor, Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral, for his masterful guidance of the historic commemorative session of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations. I would like to pay once again a well-deserved tribute to our Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and to reiterate our support for his constant efforts on behalf of peace and development. May I also transmit to our Assembly the message of hope and the wishes for success of the President of the Republic of Chad, General Idriss Deby. The life of a nation is often stamped by events written in golden letters in the great book of their history. 1996 is going to be one of those pivotal years along the road to democracy in Chad. Indeed, at preceding sessions, Chadian delegations regularly informed our Assembly of the substantial progress achieved in this area. I can affirm to you today that the process is ongoing, is getting stronger and becoming day by day an irreversible reality. I offer as proof the two major elections that took place peacefully and quietly. First, last March, the people of Chad gained a Constitution that then gave them the opportunity to elect freely and democratically for the first time in their history, with direct universal suffrage, a President of the Republic from among 15 candidates. Yes, after two hard- fought rounds of voting the people of Chad chose President Idriss Deby, who was officially inaugurated as President of the Republic of Chad on 8 August 1996 for a term of five years. Nonetheless, the process is still under way. Before the end of the year the people of Chad will be called upon to elect their representatives to the future national assembly. The parliamentary election will bring to a close the first phase in the establishment of the institutions called for by the Constitution. Numerous international observers were present in our country during the elections. They observed that the elections took place properly and that the Chadians showed discipline and political maturity. The organization of the elections would not have been possible without the contributions of Chad’s traditional friends, most notably, France, the United Nations system and international and non-governmental organizations. This contribution supplemented the efforts of the Government of Chad itself, which, despite its serious economic and financial constraints, assumed a part of the financing of the operations. Here we wish to thank all those whose multifaceted support and assistance made it possible to achieve these happy results. I take this opportunity to again appeal urgently to the international community to support Chad in the organization of future elections, in particular the legislative elections scheduled for next December. 4 It is often said that there can be no lasting economic development without democracy. The latter, as we all know, is a long, evolving process. Thus, slowly, patiently, at its own pace and in the light of its own realities, Chad is providing itself with the democratic institutions that must support its socio-economic development efforts, which is the highest priority of the programme of action of the Government of Chad. Thus, like a host of other countries, Chad has developed, in collaboration with the Bretton Woods institutions, a structural adjustment programme. It has also just negotiated and concluded with the Paris Club of Industrial Country Creditors a partial deferment and rescheduling of its public debt. These actions are designed to control Government expenditure and ultimately to reduce the current budget deficit. The main goal is to arrive at a surplus which would allow Chad to build the basic infrastructures which are essential to the promotion and development of economic activities. The Government of Chad is also re-energizing its private sector, which generates employment, privatizing State enterprises and vigorously reforming tax-collection services and economic development programmes. Another concern of my Government is the constant quest for peace and security. As the Assembly knows, war has stalked my country for more than two decades, which has completely undermined its structures. This is why we must work to restore peace and security, which inevitably involves regaining control of the army. I can affirm to the Assembly that efforts have been made and are continuing to this end. Thanks to friendly countries and the World Bank, more than 21,000 soldiers have been demobilized, an operation which will continue. However, our demobilization efforts will be in vain if this means putting out onto the street men who know how to handle weapons and are capable of causing unrest and insecurity. This is why a programme to reintegrate them into society must be implemented immediately. Only then will the reform programme succeed and ensure that we have a disciplined army, a true melting pot of the nation, at the service of development: this is our ambition. The aftermath of war must be overcome, and at the top of our list of priorities is to de-mine an area equivalent to one quarter of our national territory. The mines planted during the occupation of part of our country continue indiscriminately to kill and mutilate civilians, women and children in particular. This is an alarming situation because it hinders any development programme in a region which, nonetheless, has enormous potential for mining and tourism. It goes without saying that national rehabilitation cannot succeed, once again, without the assistance of the international community. As far as my country is concerned, and despite the problems I have just mentioned, Chad is resolutely determined to work for sustainable socio-economic development. The people of Chad, in an atmosphere of peace and freedom, decided to unite for the sake of their own development. To this end, we would like to see increasing external assistance, so designed to help us to reach the point where we no longer need such assistance. Help us to develop, so that we do not become too great a burden on the countries represented here. That is our message to the developed countries. The international situation is also of concern to us. Chad is not alone in the world, and what happens in that world, even if it is beyond us and if matters are settled outside Chad, concerns us all the same. The rampant crises in various parts of the world raise the question of what became of the hopes that were raised by the end of the cold war. We in Africa applaud the progress towards restoring peace and security in countries such as Mozambique, Angola and Liberia. But these achievements have to be consolidated. We can do this if we mobilize ourselves and shoulder our responsibilities. We deplore the situation of latent war in Somalia and the Great Lakes region. Genuine efforts should be made by the international community; the parties involved also need to show political will to end their fratricidal confrontations. The challenge is the same in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement must be vigorously supported so that a permanent peace can be established in that part of the world. In the Middle East, the peace process which began with Israeli and Palestinian reconciliation seems to have been thrown into question in the light of events in recent weeks. We pay tribute to the very recent diplomatic initiatives to try and restore dialogue between the different parties, despite the lukewarm results. Chad exhorts them to respect their commitments to avoid a new flare-up in the region. My country fully endorses the numerous efforts made with regard to disarmament. Thus we welcomed with satisfaction the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone 5 Treaty signed in Cairo, the non-aggression pact in Central Africa signed in Yaoundé and the adoption here in New York of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which Chad signed this very morning. Similarly, faced with the horror caused by mines, those deadly devices, Chad welcomes the initiatives taken to eliminate them. Consequently, we are prepared to support any measure to that end. The 1990s will have been devoted to attempts to find global solutions to the serious economic, social and environmental problems facing part of humankind. Chad, as a Sahelian country, welcomes the entry into force of the Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa and hopes to see rapid implementation of its provisions. We also hope that the forthcoming World Food Summit will meet expectations in terms of food security and water management, issues which give rise to often deadly conflict. Moreover, we should meet the new challenges facing the world: drugs, organized crime, pandemics, terrorism and religious intolerance. Increased international cooperation seems essential if we are to eliminate these scourges which Governments cannot deal with individually. Here, I would like to congratulate the United Nations Children’s Fund for its actions on behalf of children, in particular its vaccination programmes, including the programme to eradicate poliomyelitis before the year 2000. We also encourage the World Health Organization to step up its efforts to contain and eliminate the modern pandemic, AIDS. The fiftieth anniversary of our Organization provided an opportunity for the international community to think about the future, reform and how to re-energize the United Nations. But, like all human activities, only by making all this a reality will our Organization be able to achieve the ideals of peace, security and well-being laid down in the Charter and to which our peoples aspire. I cannot conclude without joining with many preceding speakers in paying tribute to the immense work done over the last four years by our Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali. His action on all fronts, and the availability, willingness and courage of the Secretary- General have enabled our Organization to foresee and resolve many conflicts. In that connection, I want to make it very clear that our country, Chad, will support the Secretary-General without reservation.