Mali

Allow me first of all, on behalf of the delegation of Mali, to extend to Mr. Didier Opertti my very warm congratulations on his outstanding election to guide the work of the fifty-third session of the General Assembly. To ensure the success of the lofty mission entrusted to him, I wish to assure him that he will have the full and open cooperation of my country’s delegation. I would also like to congratulate his predecessor, Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, President of the General Assembly at its fifty- second session, for the skill and ability with which he guided our work at a time when the reform of the United Nations occupied a prominent place on the agenda of our Organization. I also take this opportunity to convey to Secretary- General Kofi Annan and his team all our gratitude for their tireless commitment in the service of the ideals of the United Nations. The delegation of Mali fully appreciates his programme of reforms designed to adapt our Organization to the changing realities of the world. The fifty-third session of the General Assembly has opened at a time when the growing impoverishment of 13 the poorest countries, the resurgence of hotbeds of tension and the difficulties incumbent in a stronger and more united cooperation are demonstrating that the rhythm of international change is unprecedented and requires our Organization’s attention. Indeed, it would now appear that increased interdependence and the globalization of the economy are contributing heavily to the rise of new tensions and creating profound imbalances for the developing countries. The entire world, under the yoke of the logic of extreme competition, is going through a phase of profound confusion. Everywhere, North and South, workers live under the remorseless threat of market rules, which grow murkier and more pitiless every day. Financial crises are likely to undermine the developing countries’ efforts at economic reform. The imbalance between North and South is being exacerbated, the gaps are widening and differences becoming entrenched. Characterized by a disparity in income, access to services and the possibility of living in dignity, poverty is growing in the developing countries and even spreading within the developed world. My delegation certainly believes that, if genuine social development and poverty reduction are to be achieved, strong economic growth is necessary and that the poorest countries must have access to markets in order to better participate, on a sustainable basis, in the world economy. In this respect, we welcome the Secretary-General’s suggestion that the developing countries be encouraged to participate more actively in the drafting of new international standards and in ensuring that these standards be transparent. Specifically, non-tariff barriers should be eliminated for African and the least developed countries; vigorous measures should be adopted to ease the debt burden, whether by converting the public debt of the poorest countries into grants or by easing access to the Debt Initiative for the heavily indebted poor countries. But let us make no mistake: what is truly at stake today is a globalization focused on sustainable human development. The challenge at the end of this century and into the twenty-first will be to close the gap between North and South. In this respect, as the highest authorities have said; we are convinced that the history of humanity is the history of men. Our constant quest for man is our roadmap for the world’s progress. Our struggle will always be against a blind global market and in favour of sharing and solidarity. Let us have economic growth, by all means, but let our work and its fruit be shared so as to end these inequalities. Let us not close our eyes: Where there is injustice and iniquity, there is no peace. Respect for human and national rights is an integral factor for economic prosperity and social equity, as well as for promoting and maintaining peace and security. We can achieve such respect and right such imbalances if, through a renewed political dialogue undertaken in all responsibility and candour, we tackle the challenges with global vision and solidarity, in the conviction of true partnership and shared and equal responsibility in the building of a better world, a world of humanity. In this context, the major challenge facing the Government of Mali today is achieving sustainable human development through the struggle against poverty. This development hinges on a strengthened process of democratization, the rule of law and the implementation of decentralization, the vehicle for local development, designed and guided by the people. Mali is rigorously pursuing a freely agreed policy of economic reform and entrenching its democracy. The positive results of these efforts, though fragile, are very encouraging, but there remain problems and difficulties which our programmes — howsoever participatory — will require major outside assistance, peace and stability in our subregion, Africa and the world to solve. The same holds true for many countries, especially in Africa, which, through the courageous reforms they have undertaken, are once again on the road to economic growth. Like them, we intend to continue and consolidate our economic reforms with strong growth aimed at poverty reduction. The international community, however, must reverse the trend towards decreased official development assistance, which is essential to our basic minimum needs. We pay tribute to the tireless efforts of the United Nations system and our development partners and urge an increase in official development assistance, without which we will scarcely enjoy the benefits of our reforms, undertaken with so much sacrifice in the fight against poverty. We also need a partnership aimed at strengthening our economic capacities to convert and market our commodities, facilitating their access to markets, promoting the resurgence of our private sectors and increasing flows of direct foreign investments. All this must take place in a more favourable economic 14 environment if unemployment and poverty are to be consistently reduced. The end of the cold war transformed the international context for United Nations missions and activities. In the sphere of international peace and security, our Organization is now taken up with domestic conflicts that often have serious international repercussions. Unfortunately, in many cases, recent events allow us to assume that this type of conflict will continue to claim our attention. Now that certain guiding principles in the area of peace and security are widely accepted, it is quite obvious that peacekeeping will remain our priority objective. It is therefore essential that we improve our preventive system and strengthen our institution’s capacity to organize and lead these operations efficiently and successfully. For its part, Mali will always fight for more peace, justice and solidarity throughout the world. For us, security and development are indissoluble. The grave crises shaking the world, and Africa in particular, strengthen our conviction that the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the subregional organizations must cooperate closely with one another in the search for effective early warning, conflict prevention and management, and peacekeeping mechanisms. In this framework, and with particular reference to Africa, the prevention of conflicts and disarmament are of great concern. Given all of the challenges of democracy, development and security that Africa must meet, President Alpha Oumar Konaré of the Republic of Mali said a few weeks ago that: “The development of the continent must be managed on new terms. The difficult situation of our continent has arisen almost everywhere as a result of democratic failures, which we must redress in our young and fragile democracies by an essential democratic commitment. We must promote pluralistic expression, the transfer of power and dialogue founded on law. We must eschew violence. “The future of our continent does not lie in the emergence of ethnic republics, which will only lead us into general anarchy. It is important, we feel, not to deny, much less crush expressions of autonomy. They must be managed politically in a democratic context of the basic transfer of power and the emergence of local power with a view towards regional integration. “Thirty-eight years after the independence won in 1960, there is no question of redrawing the borders inherited from colonialism, but nothing today can justify border conflicts. We must be able to settle all border disputes politically. It is essential today that any ill-defined border be corrected in serenity, not in the heat of tension. The OAU’s Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution should be able to speed that forward. “At a time when everyone is welcoming integration, borders must have a different meaning. They must be managed as border countries, joint areas and shared space.” President Konaré also said that: “Post-election periods are also increasingly becoming times of conflict. This must be prevented by the proper preparation for elections, because some recent incidents of electoral challenge have threatened democracy. People must know that the only access to power is through the ballot box, whence all legitimacy flows. Everyone must participate. “We must therefore seek to control electoral challenges without ever endangering pluralistic expression and the transfer of power. Strength must always reside in law and right — the whole law and right and nothing but law and right — and oppose any impulse to disorder and violence.” In the view of the President of the Republic of Mali, “Africa can no longer be managed as it has been since 1960. A new Africa is on the move, an Africa which wishes to define its future and take responsibility for its own development; which is searching for solidarity, not alms; which is responsible and confident. It is an Africa once and for all on its own feet, a democratic Africa.” That Africa more than ever needs security and peace. To have that security and peace, Africa must, like the rest of the world, be free from weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons, particularly light weapons. With regard to disarmament, Mali hails the decisions of the Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), in particular on the Treaty’s permanent extension. 15 We also hail the entry into force on 29 April 1997 of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the progress in negotiations regarding the Biological Weapons Convention. We warmly welcome the coming entry into force of the Convention on anti-personnel landmines. Mali, which ratified this Convention early on, began last May destroying its stocks, which Mali’s army had never used. While welcoming also the notable progress made on instruments regarding weapons of mass destruction, Mali is deeply concerned about conventional weapons, which remain an area so far unexplored and not subject to international norms. Recent conflicts, particularly in Africa, which have claimed so many human lives, are fuelled not by weapons of mass destruction, but by light weapons. That is why my country, together with the United Nations and the countries of the West African subregion, has undertaken specific initiatives to counter this phenomenon. We are pleased by the welcome given to President Konaré’s initiative regarding the moratorium on the import, export and production of light weapons by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and more recently by the Organization of African Unity during the Ouagadougou summit and by the Non-Aligned Movement at the Durban summit. But it is important now to go further to reduce and contain the threat of the proliferation of light weapons. This moratorium is in essence a confidence- building measure, aiming over the long term to strengthen the ability of the Governments involved to exert stricter control over the illegal traffic in light weapons. Here we wish to pay tribute to the far-sightedness and responsible commitment of the ECOWAS countries, which plan to announce a moratorium soon. This will be a precedent demonstrating Africa’s clear will to prevent conflicts by exerting pressure on the means which incite and fuel them. The international community must keep up the momentum by mobilizing around the issue of light weapons, supporting the moratorium and making it effective by implementing a programme of coordination and assistance for security and development, which underpin the moratorium and help to widen it. We are an active party, and we support the proposals that emerge daily for tracking the illegal traffic in light weapons and establishing a control mechanism. Although it is a complex and difficult matter, we must work together energetically to perfect such a mechanism. There must be more support for resolution 52/38 C, regarding assistance to States for curbing the illicit traffic in small arms and collecting them, and States must demand more on this issue of the international community and the United Nations, which we congratulate on the action already taken. We must show our commitment to make vigorous progress in creating a mechanism to curb this matter and, at the same time, actively support initiatives such as the moratorium, consciousness-raising and the mobilization of all State and non-State actors to better ensure peace and reduce the threat posed by this illegal proliferation to people, particularly women and children, and to States and democracy. On behalf of the delegation of Mali, I would like once again to voice our solidarity with and compassion for all the peoples of the world who are still living in conflict situations. Regarding the Middle East, we are deeply concerned over the deadlock in the peace process and the policy of fait accompli aimed at changing the religious, civil and historic character of the Holy City of Al-Quds. The agreements concluded on the basis of “land for peace” must be implemented. We reaffirm our unswerving support for the just struggle of the fraternal Palestinian people to realize their legitimate right to self- determination and to establish an independent State. We remain convinced that in Angola scrupulous respect for the Lusaka Protocol is the only path to lasting peace and reconciliation. I wish once again to honour the memory of Matre Alioune Blondin Beye, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, and the seven members of his team who tragically perished on the road to peace in Angola. We have continually voiced our grave concern about the suffering of the fraternal people of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya as a result of the embargo imposed on it. While noting recent events, we should like to recall the decision taken by the heads of State or Government of the OAU at their recent summit and to reaffirm that the time has come to end the suffering of the fraternal Libyan people by lifting the embargo and finding a lasting solution. Concerned about acts of terrorism, which we condemn in all its forms, Mali firmly condemned the lethal attacks against diplomatic missions of the United States in Dar-es-Salaam and Nairobi. We reiterate our condolences to the families of the victims and call for greater international cooperation to prevent and combat this threat. We also call for the convening of an 16 international conference on terrorism under the aegis of the United Nations, whose exclusive competence in the area of international peace and security we need increasingly to reaffirm. I would like to conclude on the issue of the expansion of the Security Council. Clearly this body, which was conceived in a context quite different from today’s, cannot be left untouched in the course of reform. My delegation endorses the demands of Africa for democratization and an equitable distribution of the two categories of seats, permanent and non-permanent, with all the prerogatives and powers that go with them. We are convinced that a restructured United Nations, democratic and given essential powers, can help ensure a more orderly management of world affairs by eliminating the injustices, disparities and selfishness which threaten mankind, so that nations can finally, in a spirit of solidarity, devote their resources and their energy to the progress and development of mankind.