Mozambique

I wish to join previous speakers in congratulating Mr. Jan Kavan on his election as President of the fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly. We are confident that, with his experience, wisdom and proven skills, our deliberations will produce the desired successful outcome. Let me also pay a well-deserved tribute to his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Han Seung-soo, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea, for the excellent manner in which he discharged his duties as 21 President of the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly. I would also wish to commend the Secretary- General for his continued devotion to peace and development worldwide. During his recent visit to Mozambique, we had the opportunity to discuss the best ways of furthering the goals of the United Nations and strengthening cooperation between Mozambique and the United Nations. We remain committed to continuing to work closely with the Secretary-General. The Government of Mozambique welcomes the Swiss Confederation as a Member of the United Nations and looks forward to welcoming the Democratic Republic of East Timor. They will further strengthen our universal Organization. Allow me to express our sympathy to the peoples and the Governments of several countries in the world that have recently been hit by severe floods. We in Mozambique and in Southern Africa understand the economic and social consequences of floods. Floods, drought and other natural calamities have become a frequent occurrence in the world, and in Africa in particular. It is therefore our hope and expectation that we will be able to prepare ourselves to better deal with issues arising from natural disasters. Perhaps it is high time we revisit the outcome of the 1994 World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction, held in Yokohama. The 11 September 2001 attacks demonstrated to all of us the dangers of international terrorism, which represents a serious threat to the peace and security of every nation, rich or poor. In that regard, it is our collective duty to fight this threat effectively, under the leadership of the United Nations. To be successful in this endeavour we need to clearly understand and address the root causes of terrorism, amongst which we want to stress poverty and other injustices. In addition to Security Council resolution 1373 (2001), we must give due recognition to regional agreements and declarations to combat and eliminate terrorism, such as the 1999 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Declaration against Terrorism adopted by our heads of State or Government in January this year, as valuable tools for strengthening cooperation and providing a platform for effective action to suppress terrorism. Mozambique has already submitted its report on legislation and measures for preventing and combating terrorism, and is in the final stages of the process of ratifying all 12 conventions on terrorism. However, for the effective implementation of these legal instruments Mozambique needs support from the international community to strengthen its institutions, namely the police, the judiciary, the financial system and the Attorney-General's office. We have witnessed this year the holding of a number of major United Nations conferences and summits devoted to a wide range of socio-economic issues: the International Conference on Financing for Development, the World Food Summit, the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the special session of the General Assembly on Children. We have also seen the holding in Barcelona of an international conference on HIV/AIDS, at which our leaders recognized that this pandemic is a global problem challenging our common will and requiring global responsibility and response. The common feature of all these events has been strong and unanimous agreement on the need to ensure the implementation of the agreed outcomes and commitments in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Our leaders have stressed that for this to happen, there is a need for unity of purpose, collective responsibility and political will. We should, continuously and critically, assess the progress made in each area of commitment, with a view to realizing the aspirations and needs of our peoples. The future of the world is in our hands. We must not fail to meet the expectations of our peoples. The time has now come for action. We must act decisively to honour the commitments made in the Millennium Declaration. My Government has been following with keen interest the latest developments in the Middle East. We urge both parties to return to the negotiating table to find a lasting peace in that region; such a peace must include an independent Palestinian State living side by side with Israel, and the solution of outstanding issues deemed important by both parties. Without a comprehensive and just solution to the question of Palestine, and without full respect for the legitimate interests of all the peoples of the region, the prospects of peace will remain elusive and distant. The international community should encourage both Israelis 22 and Palestinians to work hard for peace, drawing on all the strength and resolve they need to overcome obstacles along the way. Taking into account our own experience in Mozambique, we believe that peace is a real possibility in the Middle East, and that the parties must seize the opportunity now. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Government of Iraq on its wise decision to allow the return of the United Nations inspectors. It is our hope that the resumption of the inspections will mark a new era of cooperation between Iraq and the United Nations within the spirit and the letter of the United Nations Charter and international law. This session is taking place at a moment when we are witnessing important progress regarding the resolution of conflicts in Africa. In Angola we have noted with satisfaction the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and UNITA, which marked the end of a protracted war. We salute this Memorandum of Understanding and believe that it opens a new era for the Angolan people: an era of hope and great expectations. We appeal to the international community to continue supporting the people and the Government of Angola in the consolidation of peace and stability, national reconstruction and the strengthening of democracy, as well as in responding to the current humanitarian needs. Sierra Leone is living in peace after the successful implementation of the peace process, and following general and presidential elections. We hope that these positive developments will lead to the improvement of the political environment in the Mano river region as a whole. The recent agreements between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, as well as the understanding between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, have created the hope that the peace process will be irreversible. The attainment of peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will undoubtedly contribute to bringing about the needed stability in the Great Lakes region, and will pave the way for the rapid economic integration of Southern Africa. We believe that with good will there can be a solution to the concerns of all parties involved in this conflict. In the Comoros and in Lesotho, peace is now a reality. We salute the efforts made by the peoples of those countries to make Africa a continent of hope. We are happy to see Ethiopia and Eritrea working together, with the support of the United Nations, to strengthen peace and good-neighbourliness. The acceptance by both parties of the decision of the Boundary Commission was a major step forward. My Government is concerned at the lack of progress in Western Sahara. We wish to encourage the United Nations and the parties concerned to pursue further efforts, within the established framework, with a view to finding a lasting and internationally acceptable solution to this issue. The African leaders established the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) as an instrument to address these problems. NEPAD is based on the principle of African ownership aiming at setting an agenda to renew the continent and to encompass national and regional priorities along with development plans. This is to be done through a participatory process and a new framework for interaction and partnership with the rest of the world. The support already expressed by many partners of Africa is a signal that NEPAD is a viable initiative. In that context, I would like to salute the encouraging results of the Group of Eight Summit recently held in Kananaskis, Canada, where the world's most industrialized countries expressed their support for NEPAD. In the same vein, I salute the results of the General Assembly's high-level meeting on NEPAD, held in this Hall two days ago. These results enhance our hope of a better future for Africa. Let us work together to make it a reality. In Mozambique, as part of efforts to fight poverty and to implement the Millennium Declaration, the Government approved, and is implementing, a Plan of Action for the Eradication of Absolute Poverty, locally known as PARPA. The overall objective of PARPA is the substantial reduction of absolute poverty in the country through investment in education, health, agriculture and rural development, as well as through good governance and macroeconomic stability. PARPA is partially financed by savings achieved through debt reduction from our creditors — bilateral and multilateral — under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. We are thankful to all our partners for the debt reduction and the cancellations we 23 are receiving. Let us continue to work together to find a definitive solution. This session is being held at a particularly important moment in the history of Mozambique, given that on 4 October 2002 we will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Rome Peace Agreement, which marked the end of a devastating war of destabilization. Ten years after this historic achievement, the Mozambicans have kept the peace and shown that they can live together in harmony. Given the historic significance of this date, we have declared it a national holiday: the Day of Peace and Reconciliation. Mozambicans are today enjoying the dividends of peace, which were achieved with the invaluable contribution of the United Nations in what became a peacekeeping operation success story. To consolidate this hard-won peace, we are implementing home-grown development plans with a view to promoting the welfare of our people. We are also strengthening democracy, governance and the rule of law, and preparations are under way for the forthcoming municipal elections in 2003 and the general and presidential elections in 2004. In my address during the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly, I spoke of the negative consequences of the floods which affected Mozambique during two consecutive years, 2000 and 2001. Today, I am pleased to inform the Assembly that most of the flood's victims have been resettled and are engaged in productive activities. Mozambique's economy is gradually recovering from the scourge of the floods, and, as a result of the hard work of the Mozambican people and of adequate international assistance, my country achieved a growth rate of 13.9 per cent in its gross domestic product last year and of 12.1 per cent in the first six months of this year. The report of the Secretary-General on assistance to Mozambique (A/57/97), which I commend, provides a further account of the achievements recorded by the Mozambican people in the process of national reconstruction and of economic and social rehabilitation following the floods of 2000 and 2001. The 2001 Human Development Report gives additional evidence of the progress that has been achieved. I should like to take this opportunity to reiterate the sincere gratitude of the people and the Government of Mozambique to the international community for its invaluable support to the victims of the flooding. Mozambique will continue to count on the international community's support, in particular with a view to mitigating the effects of the drought that is affecting Mozambique and other countries of southern and eastern Africa, and in order better to prepare the country to face natural calamities. In conclusion, I should like to reaffirm my country's faith in the United Nations and in its Charter, for they remain the indispensable foundation of a just, peaceful and more prosperous world. We believe that the current reform of the United Nations will help it to provide better service to Member States, particularly those most in need. We are convinced that the reform will give rise to a stronger United Nations, with a clear focus on developing countries and on results-oriented actions.