Namibia

The fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly is no ordinary one. We are meeting in the aftermath of the despicable terrorist attacks on New York, the seat of the United Nations, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. Once again, we express our deep condolences to the Government and the people of the United States. Our thoughts go out to the families of those who lost their loved ones in those tragic and horrific events of 11 September. Namibia reiterates its unreserved condemnation of these and all other terrorist attacks, wherever they occur. In the same vein, we express our condolences to the families of those who perished in the American Airlines accident on 12 November. We also convey our condolences to the Government and the people of the Dominican Republic. Namibia also expresses its heartfelt sympathy to the Government and the people of Algeria as they mourn the deaths of those killed by the violent storm and mudslides there. Our thoughts go out to their families. I would like to congratulate Mr. Han Seung-soo on his unanimous election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session and to assure him of Namibia’s cooperation during his tenure. I would also like to congratulate his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Harri Holkeri, for the skills he brought to the work of the General Assembly while presiding over the fifty- fifth session. Under his able leadership, we have made a firm beginning to the implementation of the Declaration of the Millennium Summit. Our Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, and the United Nations have earned a place among the Nobel Peace Prize laureates. For this, as well as for his unanimous, early re-election, Namibia extends warm congratulations to the Secretary-General. This, indeed, is eloquent testimony to the universal respect and admiration he has earned from all Member States. We wish him well and assure him of our full support during his new term of office. 29 Today we face multiple challenges, some of which threaten the future existence of communities and nations. With the adoption of the historic Millennium Declaration, world leaders pledged their determination to address old as well as new obstacles hampering peace and security. A solemn commitment has thus been made to enhance social and economic prosperity for all people, thereby ensuring a better world. Through the United Nations, and with strong political will, no challenge is insurmountable. The United Nations is the only international body capable of serving the interests of all nations. It is an effective consultative and organizational forum for world affairs, and it can create trust and confidence among nations. It can bring peace to war-torn areas and bring relief and development to people who need it most. When sufficiently funded, its programmes and mandates can help developing countries to meet the challenges of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases threatening our populations. It is therefore important that we, the Member States, reaffirm our commitment to continue to strengthen our Organization in order to effectively address the challenges of the new millennium. In this context, we reiterate our call for the reform and democratization of the Security Council. The Security Council must be transparent and equitably representative. Above all, it must be responsive and accountable to all States Members, on whose behalf it maintains international peace and security. The outcome of the historic first Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, held in July 2001, marked an important first step and set achievable goals to address the problems associated with this scourge, at all levels. It will now require the combined efforts of the United Nations, Member States and relevant international and regional organizations to ensure that rapid progress is made to stop the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, which has wreaked havoc, especially on the African continent. Terrorism has assumed an increasingly alarming globalized character. For some time now, the Movement of the Non-Aligned Countries has been calling for an international conference against terrorism. The time is now right for Member States to reach a consensus on such a conference. In this respect, I wish to point out that Namibia signed, on 10 November 2001, the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, and we call on others to do likewise. At the 1990 World Summit for Children we made a collective commitment to put children first, take care of and educate them and protect them from harm, exploitation, war and abuse. Yet too many children in too many parts of the world are still deprived of a peaceful childhood. Let us seize the occasion of the twenty-seventh special session of the General Assembly, on children, to take effective measures to make the world fit for all our children. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has reached catastrophic proportions. The Secretary-General reminded us that nearly 22 million people have died of HIV/AIDS and that out of more than 36 million people infected worldwide by HIV/AIDS, 25.3 million live in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, if indeed we are to succeed in reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015, as world leaders committed themselves to doing in so many forums, then Governments, civil society and the private sector must, in strong partnership, tackle HIV/AIDS. In this connection, the establishment of the Global AIDS and Health Fund to combat the AIDS epidemic and other communicable diseases is a welcome initiative which calls for generous contributions. The World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa, was the beginning of a process undertaken by the international community to address the inhuman and brutal treatment of the victims of the dehumanizing practice of slavery and colonialism, especially the African people. The trans- Atlantic slave trade and the colonization of the African peoples remain the darkest and most humiliating episode in the history of the African continent. The healing process will be enhanced only if and when those who committed and benefited from slavery and colonialism accept their full responsibility. Namibia applauds the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC), designed to bring to justice those individuals accused of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. Recently, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) adopted the Windhoek Plan of Action on ICC Ratification and Implementation, designed to promote early ratification of the ICC treaty. 30 Namibia is currently reviewing its national legislation to prepare for the ratification of the treaty. The knowledge-based global economy has revolutionized the nature of trade, finance, employment, migration, the environment and social systems, as well as the concept and application of governance. Namibia, like other countries of the South, expects tangible results from the International Conference on Financing for Development, to be held next year in Mexico. It is in the interest of North-South and South-South cooperation that additional options be explored to mobilize financing for development. Similarly, the fourth Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization, in Doha, Qatar, could pave the way to an equitable international trading system that is mutually beneficial to all countries, provided that political will prevails. The World Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, next year should galvanize momentum for the full implementation of Agenda 21, in particular the principle of common but differentiated responsibility. Desertification, land erosion and land degradation should be given due and appropriate consideration. Africa has recently taken an important step towards greater unity and cohesion with the transformation of the Organization of African Unity into the African Union. This momentous step would bring about closer integration of the continent and would make Africa more competitive in an increasingly global market. Furthermore, the heads of State and Government adopted the New African Initiative, now the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, whose primary objective is the eradication of poverty through sustained economic growth and sustainable development. We call on the international community to support and assist African countries in the implementation of this New Partnership. Let me stress that the initiatives undertaken by Japan, the People’s Republic of China, the United States, under the third Tokyo International Conference on African Development, the China-Africa Forum and the African Growth and Opportunity Act respectively can complement the efforts of African countries for sustained economic growth. We congratulate the people of East Timor on their struggle for independence and on conducting successful elections for their first Constituent Assembly. We commend the United Nations for its important role in East Timor. We wish the people of East Timor every success in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of their country. We call on the international community to be generous in its support of the East Timorese people in this most challenging phase of their nationhood. The eleventh of November this year marks 26 years of the independence of the Republic of Angola. But for more than a quarter of a century, the people of Angola have endured a brutal and devastating war. They have suffered horrendous terrorist attacks against civilian targets, including most recently attacks on a passenger train, on school buses, the kidnapping of schoolchildren, attacks on hospitals and the wanton destruction of infrastructure; all at the hands of UNITA. Tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children have been killed. Their agricultural fields are infested with landmines. Angola has acquired the dubious distinction of having the largest number of amputees and the greatest number of landmines. This is not right; it cannot be right. These heinous atrocities committed by UNITA, as well as that group’s consistent record of duplicity and always negotiating in bad faith, compelled SADC, in 1998, to declare Savimbi, UNITA’s leader, a war criminal. For its part, having determined convincingly that UNITA is responsible for the violations of the Lusaka Protocol and the resumption of the war, the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions against UNITA. While sanctions have been effective in many important respects, more concrete measures need to be taken by Member States to strengthen them and make them even more effective. African countries have a bigger and special obligation in this regard. Sanctions must be tightened in those areas identified by the Monitoring Mechanism on Sanctions against UNITA, such as the freezing of UNITA assets and bank accounts and the closing down of UNITA representations abroad, which now operate under misleading and innocuous sounding appellations but which in fact continue to promote UNITA activities and advocate its wicked cause. The international community should respond more decisively to repeated defiance of Security Council resolutions by UNITA. By acting more resolutely against UNITA, the 31 international community will help end the prolonged suffering, tears and agony of the people of Angola. Regarding the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia is encouraged by the progress made in the implementation of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement. The ceasefire has been holding so far despite some violations and infringements, particularly in the eastern part of the country. The continued occupation by forces of aggression has created deplorable human suffering and large-scale human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Namibia, once again wishes to remind the Members of the United Nations that a cardinal principle of the Charter of this Organization has been violated with impunity, when some of its Members committed an act of naked aggression against the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is even more deplorable when the aggressor countries are engaged in the ruthless exploitation and plundering of the natural resources of the Congo. We reiterate here that aggression should be rejected and condemned whenever and wherever it occurs. There should be no double standards when it comes to the violation of the principles of the Charter with regard to aggression. The international community should also assist the people of the Congo in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of their country. Now it is time for the Security Council to implement its decisions without further delay and approve the personnel for phase III of the deployment of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), taking fully into account the demands and requirements of that peacekeeping operation — the size of the country and the non-existence of the infrastructure. The United Nations and the international community cannot fail the people of the Congo this time around. We are gratified by the increased efforts of the Security Council and the serious attention paid by the international community to Sierra Leone, which have now started to pay off. The international community should remain actively engaged and continue to assist with the peace-building and reconstruction of the peace-loving people of Sierra Leone. History teaches us that no administrative Power has relinquished authority as a gesture of good will, that no peace process has been problem-free and that parties to a conflict, naturally, will have differences. This notwithstanding, however, no amount of difficulties can justify abandonment of the United Nations Settlement Plan for Western Sahara. Any attempt to legitimize, in whatever form or shape, the present situation in Western Sahara is unjustifiable and is a departure from the United Nations Declaration on decolonization and relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. Ignoring the legitimate aspirations of the brave Sahrawi people will only delay durable peace in the region. A departure from the United Nations Settlement Plan will deny the Sahrawi people their inalienable right to self-determination and independence. Namibia will reject and will dissociate itself from any plan, informal or otherwise, to deny the Sahrawi people their legitimate right to express themselves through a free, fair and impartial referendum for self-determination. No people can maintain peace and security or build its prosperity on the helplessness and abject misery of others, particularly their neighbours. The people of Palestine and, indeed, the international community are crying out for the establishment of the Palestinian State. They are crying out for peace between Palestine and the State of Israel. It is now time to heed this call. The legitimate right of the people of Palestine to self-determination and the establishment of an independent State of their own cannot be denied and cannot be compromised. A Palestinian State will be in the best interests of Israel, of security and peace, of the entire Middle East and of the whole world. The basis for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East remains Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973). Let us make sustained and determined collective efforts to promote peace and development in all corners of the world, so that our children and grandchildren can live in a peaceful world.