Togo

Allow me first of all, on behalf of the people of Togo and President Eyadema and his Government, to join in the congratulations extended to you, Sir, since the beginning of our work on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-third session. We would also like to congratulate his your illustrious predecessor, Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, on the effective manner in which he conducted the work of the fifty-second session. I would furthermore like to pay tribute to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, and his colleagues for their continuous efforts to champion the noble ideals of peace, justice, progress and solidarity embodied by the United Nations. By way of analysing the situation in Africa, I would like to present Togo?s perspective of the world?s problems in the context of improved international cooperation. Africa is democratizing, but it needs peace and security if it is to succeed. Africa is the continent most affected by the great scourges of the planet, but its development is also part of a dynamic of progress. The scourges hampering its development are well known: endemic disease, drought, poverty, political instability, ethnic conflicts, civil wars and regional conflicts. These scourges have a tendency to eclipse the successes. Since the signing of the Abuja Treaty in 1991, Africa has set itself a timetable for integration in the framework of the African Economic Community, on the basis of strengthening regional groupings of western, northern, central, eastern and southern Africa. These groups are themselves actively engaged in seeking joint solutions to the challenges confronting its member States. The rate of economic growth of certain African States continues to make progress thanks to good management policies. A vast democratic movement has begun throughout our continent to build States based on the rule of law. This movement is being followed up by the adoption of new constitutions and the establishment of independent bodies to implement them. Numerous heads of State and of Government have had their mandates challenged in periodic elections. The majority and the opposition representatives of the people have seats in the new representative bodies — parliaments and national assemblies. The success of the functioning of these new constitutional bodies is ensured by independent legal bodies. The press is now free, as are labour unions in most of our States. I am emphasizing these institutional aspects of building a new Africa because the respect and support of the international community for these institutions is a factor in favour of peace within the particular States, and therefore for peace in our regions. Experience has shown us that a domestic conflict, by giving rise to an exodus of people to neighbouring countries, also has a rapid and serious effect on the latter. I repeat, as the current situation in the Great Lakes region demonstrates, such domestic conflicts can lead to regional crises. Togo is among the States that voluntarily established institutions that safeguard the rule of law and that can arbitrate disputes that may arise in the new context of democratization. It is in this framework that the Constitutional Court of Togo declared the results of the presidential election of 21 June 1998 after having arbitrated the disputes that resulted from the election. Togo?s respect for institutions is the very foundation of democracy and peace. On behalf of my Government, I would like to invite all of our partners at the United Nations to support without distinction the efforts of all the countries of Africa that commit themselves to the difficult but rewarding path of building a State of law. This is the price of peace in Africa. While we can be gratified at the end of certain conflicts — particularly in Liberia and Sierra Leone — and while solutions are in sight to relieve the tensions in Guinea-Bissau, we cannot fail to express our concern over the crisis in the Great Lakes region, the resumption of hostilities in Angola, the continuation of the crisis in Somalia and, finally, the armed confrontation between Ethiopia and Eritrea. 7 We cannot stress enough the advantages of dialogue and negotiation as the best paths to follow for settling disputes between States on the basis of respect for their territorial integrity. In that connection, the international community must put an end to the embargo imposed on Libya by implementing the jurisdictional solution accepted by that country and by ensuring a fair trial for the suspects in the Lockerbie bombing. Togo firmly supports the efforts of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to settle this dispute and end the suffering of the Libyan people. My country takes this opportunity to repeat its steadfast condemnation of terrorism in all of its forms and to emphasize the need for urgent and concerted action to combat this scourge effectively. As we are aware, the proliferation of conflict situations in Africa remains a real cause of concern for the international community. I would like to note in this regard the important report (A/52/871) presented by the Secretary- General last February at the request of the Security Council on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa. That report contains specific recommendations on means of preventing such conflicts and putting an end to them, as well as on measures to be taken to create conditions for lasting peace and economic growth. We hope that the implementation of his recommendations by the Security Council, by the relevant bodies of the United Nations system and by the Bretton Woods institutions will result in the effective prevention of conflicts and put Africa on the road to progress, stability and sustainable development. Elsewhere in the world, we were relieved to see the signing of an agreement between the Government of Iraq and the United Nations, which made it possible at the last moment to avoid a new confrontation in the Gulf. In the same region, my Government deplores the present deadlock in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. We remain convinced that only the resumption of direct negotiations between the principals will make it possible to usher in an era of peace, security and prosperity in that region. We were relieved to see the contacts that have taken place between Mr. Yasser Arafat and Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu through the mediation of the American Government. Togo strongly supports this initiative. With regard to the other crises that assail the world and jeopardize the lives of so many millions of people — particularly in Afghanistan and Kosovo — my country hopes that through firm political will backed by candid and sincere negotiations, the parties to the conflicts will find appropriate solutions that are acceptable to all. The world?s concerns at the dawn of the third millennium are not linked solely to the effects of the phenomenon of globalization. The preservation of peace, security and stability for States and peoples continues to be an important priority. In that context, Togo is gratified to note that the United Nations is continuing to discharge its mission of peacemaking and peacekeeping. In this regard, I welcome the upcoming commemoration on 6 October of 50 years of United Nations peacekeeping operations, and I would like to pay tribute to the memory of all the men and women who have given their lives in the service of the Organization. My country, which firmly supports the ongoing quest for peace and security for all, would like to emphasize the need to strengthen cooperation in this area, in a spirit of complementarity, between the United Nations and subregional and regional organizations, in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations. The appropriate regional machinery necessary to give concrete form to this shared desire for collective maintenance of peace and security should be established. It is in that spirit that Togo — together with other countries of the West African subregion and in the framework of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) — is working to establish a viable and permanent mechanism for the prevention, management and settlement of conflicts and the maintenance of peace. It is also within this framework that we welcome the fourth extraordinary summit of ECOWAS, held in Lomé from 16 to 17 December 1997, and the holding of the joint military manoeuvres named “Cohesion Kompienga ?98”, held from 16 to 21 April 1998, in which the armed forces of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d?Ivoire, Ghana, the Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Togo participated. Among the goals of the United Nations are vigilance over the maintenance of peace and security, the establishment of conditions for harmonious economic development to ensure the well-being of our populations and working for a just world in which the rights of individuals and peoples are not only recognized and consecrated, but above all respected. My delegation would like to take this opportunity to hail the holding of the United Nation Diplomatic 8 Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, which led to the adoption of the Statute of the court which was held in Rome from 15 June to 17 July. Togo believes that peace is impossible without justice. The struggle for peace and the struggle for greater justice must be viewed as two complementary aspects of one and the same struggle for the realization of the deepest aspirations of all the peoples of the world. The positive outcome of the negotiations at the Conference resulted in the adoption of the Statute of the court, illustrating anew the vigour and ability of our Organization in dealing with the present and preparing States to face the issues of tomorrow. It is for that reason that my delegation favours all efforts to reform the Organization that aim to make it more effective, more concerned with the problems of mankind and more democratic, so that the views of all are better reflected and taken into account in all of its bodies. Togo would therefore like to see the rapid conclusion of discussions to allow for the permanent representation of Africa in the Security Council, in accordance with the resolutions of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The democracy we are advocating at the national level must also be reflected in international organizations. The United Nations has always played an important role in the advancement of economic and social development and, when necessary, in providing the men, women and children of the entire world with the assistance on which their survival often depends. We are nevertheless obliged to recognize that despite the efforts made, the improvement of standards of living, full employment and the conditions for progress and economic and social development have not been realized. This is particularly the case in Africa, where continued inequality and poverty, among other things, dangerously imperil the stability of States. It is true that African economies have performed remarkably well in the last three years; but it is also true that the consolidation of these gains still depends on the international economic environment. Global economic structural constraints — including the continuing burden of debt, the reduction in the flow of official development assistance, currency fluctuations, the inequality of investment flows, weak commodity prices and market protectionism practised by developed countries — still remain the major obstacles to the economic development of African countries. With regard to the debt burden in particular, my country highly values the declaration of the eighth consultative meeting of the Organization of African Unity, the African Development Bank and the Economic Commission for Africa, which was held in Abidjan in January 1998. We believe that the efforts to alleviate the debt burden must be continued in conjunction with Africa?s partners in order to find appropriate solutions to this thorny problem. In this context, Togo would like to reaffirm the imperative need to hold an international conference on Africa?s foreign debt, and it requests the support of the international community to translate that proposal into reality. Regrettably, at this time of economic globalization, the marginalization of Africa in terms of international trade is accelerating, even though today the development of trade appears to be the most effective means of managing the resources necessary for self-sufficiency. Indeed, the development and economic growth of African States requires as a basic condition sufficient currency inflows from the export of their commodities. Thus, in the view of my delegation, an open world system operating under just and equitable regulations should be established in order to ensure the active participation of African States in international trade. To that end, more liberal measures will be required in order to promote the transformation and diversification of their products as well as to attract and channel investments towards them. The industrialized countries are attempting to join forces. This shows clearly that today no country, regardless of how powerful it is, can alone provide for its own economic growth and cope with increasingly aggressive international competition. Given this state of affairs, the African countries have in recent years reaffirmed their will to pool their potential by establishing and strengthening subregional units. It is clear that the development policy of our countries must be considered within this framework, for this is the only way that Africa can become a fully fledged and reliable partner in the world of the twenty-first century. In this respect, the entry into force of the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community serves as a good illustration of the will of African States to unite their efforts to ensure their own progress. 9 Togo, which is firmly committed to the policy of economic integration of the continent, wishes to take this opportunity to once again urge the international community to support the efforts of the African countries to achieve the goals of sustainable development which alone can promote prosperity and the well-being of their peoples. I should like here to underscore an emerging trend in Africa: inter-African parliamentary control of the activities of our regional and subregional organizations. It is in this framework that an inter-parliamentary committee of the West African Economic and Monetary Union was created recently in Bamako; its work is already under way. Also in this framework, a parliamentary assembly was established in the countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), in southern Africa. This shows that while, generally speaking, people tend to despair of the future of Africa, we young Africans have faith that Africa is on the right path as long as we have the unswerving support of the international community. Here I should like once again to welcome the commitment of the Japanese Government to Africa through the Tokyo Conference on the Development of Africa (TICAD), aimed at seeking solutions to the continent?s development problems. My delegation would like here once again to thank the Japanese Government for all of its efforts to strengthen cooperation between Africa and Asia, and congratulates it on the convening of TICAD II next October in Tokyo. Moreover, Togo believes that the combination of TICAD with other initiatives — in particular that of the United States on equitable partnership, known as 20/20 Vision; that of the European Union, within the framework of the Lomé Convention; and that of the francophone world, within the framework of the Hanoi Plan of Action — will help safeguard and consolidate the spirit of solidarity, which Africa wishes to see ever more active and ever more purposeful. My country is convinced of the need for solidarity among the Members of our Organization and is deeply committed to the noble ideals of peace, freedom and justice and of economic, social and cultural progress, which the United Nations has contributed to advancing. During this year of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Togo fervently hopes to witness the realization, for the benefit of all humankind, of the profound aspirations of peoples to greater freedom and to a world of peace in which the struggle against poverty, famine and illness grows is daily strengthened.