Seychelles

I too would like to extend to Ambassador Insanally the congratulations of Seychelles on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly. We wish him every possible success in carrying out his duties. Allow me also to pay a well-deserved tribute to the Secretary-General for his tireless efforts in seeking solutions to the many problems facing the international community. Our session is opening on a note of hope, because it is taking place only a few days after a historic event of exceptional importance. I am referring, of course, to the signing of the peace agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. May that negotiation provide a lesson in those areas where misunderstanding, hatred and conflicts of interest are still bringing suffering to so many. The dramatic events and the human tragedy that are taking place in hotbeds of tension throughout the world are a credit to no one. However, we must take note of the fact that while reaction has been passive and hesitant in some cases, it has been quick and resolute in others. The quest for peace is nevertheless at the centre of our concerns. The considerable financial resources our Organization devotes to peace-keeping missions or missions to restore peace demonstrate this. This is undoubtedly proof of our own determination to bring to a halt these conflicts, which result in so many victims and destroy all the achievements of development. Indeed, any lasting development necessarily implies efforts to thwart the threat of certain situations turning into open conflict. 42 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session For us island States, the seas are a source of life. Our future depends mainly on them. And for our development to be truly lasting, we must have peace on the seas. While it is indisputable that old rivalries have subsided in the seas and oceans of the world, it nevertheless remains true that the Indian Ocean has always been coveted by all. And that is why we reiterate our request that the Indian Ocean become truly a zone of peace and cooperation to the benefit of coastal States. The concept of the Colombo Conference is perhaps something from a bygone era, but its objectives remain relevant today. Members will find it easy to understand, therefore, why we attach such great importance to the implementation of resolution 47/59 of the forty-seventh session of the General Assembly calling for the organization by the Ad Hoc Committee of a meeting that would propose new alternative approaches leading to the achievement of the goals contained in the initial Declaration, taking into account the changing international situation. It is in this spirit that I should like to make an appeal to the countries which have not yet done so to ratify the Convention on the Law of the Sea so that we can get the necessary 60 ratifications for its entry into force. How are we to understand that such an important Convention has been endorsed by only 56 countries since 1982? Of course, we do appreciate the importance of what is at stake, but international solidarity must be our guide. The International Olympic Committee would like to revive the ancient tradition of the Olympic truce and declare 1994 the International Year of Sports and of the Olympic Spirit, and we should support that proposal. Let us not underestimate the values of the Olympic spirit. They are rich in potential applications for managing international relations. But no peace can be lasting while the causes of conflicts remain. These causes are selfishness, intolerance, xenophobia, discrimination and dictatorship, but also - and especially - poverty, poor management and excessive indebtedness. These are ills that generally lead to the emergence of new conflicts. Should we not attack the root cause rather than the effect? A few years ago, financial backers made democratization one of the prerequisites for assistance to developing countries, and as a bonus to democracy, certain countries benefited from the generosity of the international community because they had pioneered that approach. Today, most of our countries have embarked on the process of democratization - with varied results, admittedly - but the desire to fit into the new order was the underlying reason for all. Nevertheless, this new process, and I would take the case of the Republic of Seychelles, which has met this challenge calmly and successfully, inevitably entailed extrabudgetary expenditures in all areas, both economic and social. While it is true that the transition to democracy is something which is very valuable in and of itself, the establishment of new structures and the implementation of new rules have nevertheless been a source of additional costs which have placed a heavy burden on national budgets that were already fairly shaky. And almost everywhere, the implementation of this democratization process required the support of the international community. Is this not an objective reason to think about setting up a United Nations special fund to provide financial and logistical support for these reforms? To be viable, this democratic undertaking must seek to meet all the challenges of a country. If it is to ensure the continuation of these new institutions, it must pave the way for sustainable development commensurate with the aspirations of peoples. Thus, with the advent of the Third Republic, our country is today in a new stage of its history. For more than 18 months, within the context of a constituent commission, reforms have been undertaken that will produce a new Constitution and lead to free and democratic elections. In other words, for a year and a half national activity has been slowed, and even brought to a halt in some cases, while the fundamental economic problems remain. The Seychelles has been the scene of another momentous event, the Fourth Indian Ocean Games, which took place last August in conditions that were judged exceptional. Reverting to what I was saying, I would note that the cost of the infrastructure for those Games made serious inroads into the national budget. One might wonder how a small island country was able to engage in such a programme of reforms for 18 months in such circumstances. We are proud of having succeeded, but the economy must be restimulated immediately if we do not wish to lose all the social and political benefits that were achieved. Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 43 I should like now to take up the problem of the small island States, of whose fragility everyone here is aware. We are countries whose reduced size is the source of innumerable constraints on economic and social development, such as chronic deficits in trade balances and balances of payment, the high cost of social infrastructures in relation to their utilization and, especially, the excessive indebtedness caused by a lack of funds to finance investment programmes. The convergence of those factors has only exacerbated the fragility of our economies, which, generally speaking, are based on one or two sectors such as tourism and fishing. That is the daily lot of the Seychelles and other small island States, which, with courage, perseverance and intelligence, are nevertheless attempting to find solutions that will enable them to promote the economic and social well- being of their peoples. Thus we believe that it is quite fitting to draw the international community’s attention once again to the need to establish specific programmes and mechanisms that would make it possible for our island countries to move towards sustainable development. We ask that the same facilities that are made available to the least developed, landlocked countries be made available to us. In any event, per capita income, always put forward as a criterion for level of development, cannot be relevant for small island States because it is distorted by the small size of their populations. Has any thought been given to the per capita cost of infrastructures or the per capita debt? We believe that such an analysis would result in the reconsideration of many decisions. Of course, it is up to us, first of all, to take every measure to ensure the sustainability of our development by preserving, in so far as possible, our environment, which lies at the basis of all our export products. Despite all these constraints, we have been able - thanks to the judiciousness of our choices and our economic decisions - to achieve tangible results. But the international community’s support, which we had been promised in Rio, did not materialize. Today, all of the developing countries are in a precarious situation. They are confronted with many challenges: the poverty of millions of human beings, high rates of infant mortality, famine, the destruction of the environment and fratricidal wars. But these challenges are not insurmountable. What is required is courage and international solidarity. It is more than ever the duty of the United Nations once again to draw the attention of the developed countries to the effects which the continuation of such a situation might have on our economies and our cultures - in a word, on our future, but also on theirs. We would like concrete action, because we do not wish to have to deplore again the inertia of speeches or declarations of intent. While new conflicts arise, the old ones persist almost everywhere and the scope of the disasters is tremendous. Hence, we must react quickly, because many peoples have suffered far too much from the horrors of war. Above all, the major Powers, the guarantors of the security and regulation of the world economic situation, must give the United Nations the means to carry out its policies. Finally, we sincerely hope that the current session will generate the necessary impetus to resolve all our concerns, so that peace, at last restored, can create a climate conducive to development.