Bangladesh

I wish warmly to congratulate Mr. Han Seung-soo on his unanimous election to the presidency of the General Assembly. We share the conviction that he will infuse the work of the Assembly with dynamism and a new perspective. I also join in the warm tributes paid to his predecessor, Mr. Harri Holkeri. We congratulate Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his staff on having been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2001. He has brought honour to us all. His re-election to a second term is a just tribute to his dedication, commitment and sheer hard work. The catastrophe of 11 September has scarred us all deeply. It has brought irrevocable change and inevitable hardship. Yet it has honed and hardened a common resolve, a steely determination to confront and condemn all such irrational and mindless acts of violence. Bangladesh stands committed to fight against terrorism, in all its forms and manifestation, by whoever and wherever it is committed. We believe that terrorism hampers peace and security and creates political chaos and economic instability around the world. We have therefore pledged total support for the concerted efforts of the international community to confront this scourge as best, as quickly and as comprehensively as we can. We have initiated the process of identifying any possible administrative or financial focus or network of suspected terrorists. We have not given, and will not give, any form of sanctuary, training or support to any kind of terrorist group or cell. We are responding to the call of the Secretary-General and working towards becoming a party to a number of United Nations anti-terrorist instruments. We already subscribe to the 1987 South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Convention on Suppression of Terrorism and believe that it has scope for further strengthening. As a member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), we support, and will actively participate in, efforts to reach an agreement on the early completion and adoption of a comprehensive convention to combat terrorism. We hope that an inclusive approach will be taken that will unite us all in our common struggle against terrorism. We are aware that terrorism has no consistent profile and that it has many variables reflecting the increasing complexity of human society. But this much is certain: we know what it is not. We must emphasize and underscore emphatically the fact that terrorism has no connection to any one religion or to any particular 41 region of the world. It is a global phenomenon and should be addressed as such. We therefore welcome President Bush's statement to the General Assembly, at the 44th meeting on 10 November, during which he quoted the sheikh of Al-Azhar University, the world's oldest Islamic institution of higher learning, as having declared that terrorism is a disease and that Islam prohibits killing innocent civilians. Previous speakers have underlined the fact that the spotlight on terrorism should not blind us to the pursuit of other pressing objectives. Indeed, terrorism is but one aspect of the many negative forces that shape the substance of what we call globalization, including drugs, organized crime, the illicit transfer of small arms, money-laundering, environmental degradation, and the new diseases that have invaded all societies. Many have intrinsic interlinkages, and none respect borders. They call for collective approaches and concerted global action. On the positive side, two crucial forces have impelled globalization mass consciousness of individual rights and the impact of science and technology. The push for individual rights, humanitarian concerns and a burgeoning new humanitarian law are reflected in the worldwide sweep of democracy. Advances in science and technology have closed the information and communications gap. Together, these forces have changed the nature of our world, challenged the context and meaning of sovereignty, and brought about a need for new and dynamic approaches. The radical changes that came in the wake of the end of the cold war coincided in Bangladesh with the overthrow of military dictatorship in 1990 and the advent of democracy. Since then, Bangladesh has held in succession three general elections that have been acclaimed by all impartial observers, both local and foreign, as being eminently free and fair. We have the unique distinction of being the only parliamentary democracy in which elections are constitutionally carried out by an interim caretaker government within a 90-day period. The roots of democracy have taken hold and have spread far and wide. Today, despite all of Bangladesh's limitations due to poverty, its people have demonstrated unequivocally that they are a functioning, moderate, modernizing Muslim country. The most recent elections, held on 1 October 2001, had a voter turnout of 75 per cent of an electorate of over 70 million people. What was extraordinary was the unprecedented number of women who freely exercised their right of franchise. In an overwhelming demonstration of support, the people have returned the four-party alliance led by Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia to power, with more than two-thirds majority seats in the Bangladesh Parliament. This is an outstanding endorsement of, and triumph for, democracy. It also imposes a huge burden of responsibility on the Government to measure up to this massive mandate. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Begum Khaleda Zia, has responded firmly. The new Government is committed to consolidating and developing a sustainable structure of democracy with the participation of the opposition. The primary focus is to restore law and order and to ensure social peace, harmony and justice, so as to improve our capacity to fight poverty, illiteracy and underdevelopment. Four factors pace the economic agenda: reducing poverty, raising rural productivity, boosting trade and encouraging investment. In pursuing these key factors, the Government will refine its already established four-fold strategy of 1991-1996: encouraging macroeconomic reform, stimulating the private sector, enhancing the quality and quantity of development expenditure and concentrating on the quality, not quantity, of investment. There will be a cardinal push for aggressive economic diplomacy in the wake of globalization, which has called for closer interaction between domestic and foreign policy and which has triggered intense competition for greater access to markets, the flow of resources and investments, the transfer of technology and employment opportunities abroad. In the pursuit of the pre-eminent objective of alleviating poverty, a key concern remains to place people at the centre of all public policies. In the field of foreign policy, a fundamental charge remains that of reinforcing mutual, beneficial and cooperative relations with all countries and the consolidation of our image abroad as a responsible, stable, moderate, democratic and contributing member of the world community. 42 Our unwavering policy is to maintain close and friendly relations with our neighbours on the basis of equality, mutual respect, non-interference in internal affairs and the settlement of outstanding bilateral issues through dialogue and negotiation. It is a matter of some gratification that, close on the heels of the formation of the new Government, special envoys of the leaders of both India and Pakistan visited Bangladesh as a goodwill gesture to renew and reinvigorate ties. In our region, a priority objective will be to revitalize the momentum and credibility of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). It is a matter of particular satisfaction that the stalled twelfth SAARC Summit will now be taking place 4-6 January 2002 in Kathmandu, Nepal. It is of vital importance that this first millennium summit of South Asian leaders forge a new vision for the future of the region that will encompass promotion of not only its socio-economic mandate, but also the reduction of tension, the normalization of relations and the creation of a broader-based climate of confidence-building. Bangladesh believes that the most compelling security challenge facing South Asia is promoting sustainable growth, reform and development. Nuclearization in South Asia has, if anything, enhanced security concerns in the region. Bangladesh adheres to the belief that security goes beyond the weapons a nation possesses and extends to raising living standards and building stable and healthy democracies. The link between development and security is thus crucial in South Asia. This was the underlying rationale of SAARC. The guiding motivation as enunciated by the late President Ziaur Rahman was to visibly improve the quality of life of the common people in an environment of peace. In the global context, a cardinal priority for Bangladesh will be to play an active role through concrete initiatives in all socio-economic forums, to promote the cause of developing countries as a whole and the least developed in particular and, especially, to keep alive special treatment for the poorest of the poor. A fundamental objective for Bangladesh consistent with our Constitution is to strengthen the role of the United Nations as the central organ for the cooperative management of the world's problems. Bangladesh will continue to actively contribute to the peaceful settlement of disputes, to bolster collective security and peace-building. Our commitment to peacekeeping remains firm and has manifested itself in the participation of Bangladeshi military and civilian contingents in many areas of simultaneous conflicts. We are immensely proud to be currently the largest contributor among blue helmets, serving in ten United Nations missions. In the field of peacekeeping, we believe that the recommendations of the Brahimi Panel provide a good basis, and we feel that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) should be equipped adequately to handle such a requirement. Bangladesh strongly believes that the issue of representation of troop-contributing countries in the military, civilian police and diplomatic components in the DPKO and in other departments, as well as in the mission headquarters, should be seriously considered in the context of the proposed expansion scheme. Bangladesh's term in the Security Council is now about to come to an end. We have sought to live up to our responsibility with pragmatism and moderation. We have tried to make the work of the Council more transparent, open and proactive and to develop an effective interface between the Council and the general membership to reflect the aspirations of all on issues of common interest. Today, certain issues both political and economic have assumed centre stage, and our attention is telescoped upon them. Prime among them is the situation in Afghanistan. Bangladesh is a part of the international coalition that seeks to establish a stable, durable, social, political and economic structure in Afghanistan as soon as possible. It is our hope that the Afghan people will have a true opportunity to choose their own system of governance in line with human values and democratic practices in a post-Taliban dispensation. Such a Government should be broad- based, multi-ethnic, demographically and equitably representative, responsive to the needs of the Afghan people and acceptable to the people of Afghanistan, the neighbourhood and the international community. We welcome efforts to focus on positive and finite solutions to the problems of Afghanistan, especially efforts being made with the assistance of the United Nations for forming an interim transitional Government acceptable to the Afghan people. We also welcome two key projects: first, a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation plan and efforts to mobilize funding; second, a hard focus on ways and means to facilitate the return of the refugees. Of immediate importance is the vast humanitarian tragedy in Afghanistan, the need 43 to contain and minimize the loss of human life and to reach out with immediate relief to refugees and displaced persons. While new threats to peace, security and economic stability are emerging, the old ones remain. Occupation, inter-State and intra-State conflicts, particularly in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans, continue to threaten regional and global peace and stability. We are particularly concerned at the steady deterioration of the situation in Palestine, arising out of the encroachment on Palestinian territories and the collective punishment meted out to the Palestinians. Bangladesh will continue to maintain its unflinching support of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to an early establishment of a State of their own with Jerusalem as its capital. Poverty today remains the pre-eminent moral and humanitarian challenge of our age and hence needs to be tackled with due priority. The Secretary- General has reminded us of the commitments made by our leaders during the Millennium Summit last year to eradicate this scourge. The role of external financial support in the development process has assumed greater importance by virtue of the fact that better education, knowledge, skill and awareness must be effectively integrated into the global economic and market mechanism. In this context, we look forward to the Monterrey International Conference on Financing for Development in March 2002. Over the last few decades, access to global markets has been seriously limited for the products of the developing countries in general and the least developed countries (LDCs) in particular. In this context, Bangladesh calls upon development partners to create more access for trade, including offering duty-free, quota-free access to products from the LDCs on a secure, long-term and predictable basis with realistic and flexible rules of origin to match the industrial capacity of the LDCs. We are hopeful that the current Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization in Doha will be able to effectively focus on the obligations to implement the commitments made earlier during the Uruguay Round of negotiations. Debt repayment is also an enormous burden on the developing countries, particularly on the LDCs. We urge the developed countries to expand the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) facility to include more indebted developing countries, with particular focus on the LDCs. Bangladesh is committed to strengthening and to following up on many ideas to bolster the United Nations capacity to lead, especially that of the General Assembly. Bangladesh strongly supports the idea of forging better coordination between the major organs of the United Nations, namely the General Assembly, Security Council and the Economic and Social Council, for working out a long-term strategy for sustainable peace and development. In conclusion, I would like to say that it is not the lack of resources that prevents the promotion of a collective and shared perspective on common challenges. What we perhaps need is to muster the determination and courage to build up a collective and inclusive approach for undertaking pragmatic and forward-looking actions. The challenges of the twenty- first century remind us once again that we must seek harmony through diversity, peace through dialogue, and prosperity through mutual cooperation. The United Nations offers the most appropriate and central mechanism to promote our best aspirations and objectives. The journey to peace has always been arduous; nonetheless, it is the longing for peace, progress and justice that has inspired us to work for our better tomorrow.