Guinea

I extend to the President of the General Assembly at its fifty-second session the sincere congratulations of the delegation of the Republic of Guinea on his election. At the same time, I have the pleasant duty to transmit to him the warmest greetings of the people and Government of Guinea and, in particular, of the President of the Republic, General Lansana Conte. Mr. Udovenko’s wealth of experience in multilateral diplomacy, to which he has devoted a major part of his life, together with his outstanding personal qualities, ensures the success of our deliberations. As Vice- President of the General Assembly at its fifty-second session, and because of the long-standing and excellent relations of friendship that link my country with his — Ukraine — I assure him of the full cooperation of my delegation. Furthermore, I should like to express the deep appreciation of my delegation for the effectiveness and competence shown by his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Razali Ismail, in conducting the debates of the General Assembly at its fifty-first session. I should also like to congratulate the Secretary- General, Mr. Kofi Annan, on the outstanding work he has accomplished since the beginning of his term, and on the submission on 14 July this year of his programme for reform. I should like to assure him of the confidence and support of the Republic of Guinea. In addition, I wish to pay tribute to the former Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who deserves credit for beginning consideration of the subject. Some have wished to call this fifty-second session the Assembly of reform, and we are in agreement. The document (A/51/950) submitted for debate, “Renewing The United Nations: A Programme for Reform”, has been examined extremely carefully by my Government. We must admit that the United Nations in its current form is a long way from corresponding to the geopolitical realities of today’s world. Since its creation 50 years ago, and in particular since 1989, the world has changed greatly. We cannot fail to change along with it. It is true that results in the area of peacekeeping and international security have been extremely positive. Many major treaties and conventions have been concluded, including the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the Chemical Weapons Convention. The international community has also made a firm and prompt commitment to the Ottawa process on banning anti-personnel landmines, a process in which the Republic of Guinea took a particularly active part. We should also welcome the implementation of peacekeeping operations in many parts of the world and, an extremely positive sign, an improvement in public administration, increased democracy and the strengthening 17 of the ability of nations to promote human rights in the interests of better governance. But, in spite of this considerable progress, many imbalances remain, major challenges are still before us and the nascent globalization is not, as a spirit of international solidarity would demand, benefiting developing countries, which have tended to fall by the wayside on the road to progress. Many countries are still labouring under the burden of debt, which is crippling their economies and thereby compromising their development efforts. In full view of the international community, thinly disguised protectionism prevents our products from gaining access to buoyant markets. When, taking one year with another, some of our products manage to overcome these barriers, they often succumb to prices stemming from rules that are sometimes fixed unilaterally or flouted with impunity. This is compounded by the harmful effects of the decline in official development assistance in spite of the Rio commitments. So-called small arms are proliferating on our borders and are posing serious threats to the peace, security and stability of many countries. This short list does not nearly cover all the defects we have to correct. Courageous and consensual reform of the United Nations could help us to do away with these ills, which are compromising, through uncertainty, the future of many nations represented here. We must reassure our peoples, not just by drafting new standard-setting instruments that are legally binding on us all, but, above all, by taking drastic action, channelling our will and joint efforts to change the situation on the ground. The spirit of the Marshall Plan, which the United Nations should espouse, should not die with the century that saw its birth. For all these reasons, the Republic of Guinea approves the reform proposed by the Secretary-General. For all these reasons it is also deeply involved in the debate that will make it a reality. We will not go into all the positive aspects here; we will simply confine ourselves to a few points, especially those that directly affect developing countries. I begin with the economy, the new cornerstone of the system after disarmament. Several economic measures go in the right direction. We support the initiative to create a United Nations Development Group, an Office of Development Financing and a new system for multi-year pledges for development cooperation thanks to savings on administrative expenses, the first fruits of reform. The same applies to strengthening the role of the Economic and Social Council and promoting dialogue with the technical ministries of our countries to give impetus to macroeconomic policies. We also set great store by the proclamation of the International Decade to Eliminate Poverty and especially in concrete measures to eradicate the evil of poverty. The Republic of Guinea puts women and children at the heart of its development, and welcomes the attention given to the promotion of women and children. In the same vein, Guinea supports the implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s and the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa. My delegation supports other aspects which are equally important for the restructuring under consideration, especially the merger of institutions in the Organization with similar activities, such as the creation in Vienna of a single Office to combat transnational crime, drug-trafficking and terrorism, evils we should all fight against wherever they may rear their head, and the amalgamation of the Centre for Human Rights with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The problem of the environment knows no boundaries. If we are not careful, this may be the greatest danger we face, since many perils are lurking, smouldering beneath the surface of the anarchy in this matter. It should be the sacred duty of the international community to ensure the lasting health of our planet for ourselves and for future generations. This is why we welcome the organization of a special session on the environment and development. We have presented the proliferation of small arms as a subject of concern to African countries. These weapons, which unfortunately lend themselves to all types of conflict, large or small, pose a real danger. We therefore strongly support the idea of creating a Department for Disarmament and Arms Regulation. If it is to be fully effective, it should be given adequate resources and genuine power to monitor the cross-border movement of these weapons. 18 What is true of the Organization as a whole is even more true of the Security Council. The times we live in have made its reform essential. Nevertheless, when we deal with this important and delicate issue, we should avoid confrontation between regions and different groups and try not to resort to useless polemics. On the one hand, we should perhaps understand that we will not be able to do everything at once, or else we will stymie the debate. Our main goal should be significantly to change a status quo which we all feel has had its day. On the other hand, if we put ourselves in the shoes of those who are enjoying permanent seats and the right of veto, we should recognize that it is difficult, even human, but not impossible, to agree to give up, without a fight, the considerable advantages won after the war after a brave struggle. But, once peace has been achieved, it would be pointless if time were not able, after half a century, to heal the wounds of defeat and cast out the memories of war. Security Council reform must be one of the major proofs of a reconciliation patiently achieved. This is only one aspect of the issue. If the desire to disarm is sincere and universally shared by all members of the international community, as decisive progress could lead us to hope is the case, then the concept of power should no longer be measured by a country’s mass destruction capabilities. After the cold war, the end of the arms race and of the confrontation of ideologies, the struggle — perhaps we should say “competition” — is shifting to other arenas, particularly the economic arena and ensuring people’s happiness. In the process, many countries which not long ago were considered small because of the size of their economies are outstripping nations which have seen their former glory fade. The formidable progress in communications has inexorably reduced distances and gulfs separating the levels of knowledge and development in the different parts of the world. Together, let us square up to these new realities, with justice and democracy as our point of reference but above all, with a clear view of humanity united on the basis of a fruitful and trusting partnership, ensuring progress and well- being for all. And let us courageously decide now on what is possible, even if it means postponing matters until the year 2000, when we can put the finishing touches to what we will not have done today. In the debate this session, Africa, in its constant quest for consensus, has modest ambitions. We would consider two permanent seats in the Security Council, with the same rights for all, pursuant to the resolutions of the summit in Harare, as positive results. The delegation of the Republic of Guinea will fight for this during what it hopes will be a calm and constructive debate. The United Nations is essential for today and tomorrow. If it did not exist, we would have had to invent it. The United Nations, as a special and irreplaceable place for 185 States to meet, work together and cooperate, must lay down rules of law recognized universally by all so that international relations can continue in a coherent, equitable and efficient manner. Structural reform, however perfect, cannot be fully effective without adequate financing of the Organization’s operations and, above all, of its activities. Reform must necessarily be accompanied by consistent funding. Without reducing this important aspect of the question solely to the payment of the contributions owed by many countries, the delegation of Guinea wishes to state that its reaction to the statement by the President of the country that is the largest contributor was a positive one. Nevertheless, in keeping with the principle that the rules that have hitherto governed the Organization are still in effect, the payment of arrears by all Member States must precede the opening of negotiations to work out a new scale of assessments satisfactory to all. While bearing in mind that our common destiny should be the background to our statements before the Assembly, I would like to point out that each region and subregion comes to this rostrum with its own pressing concerns. The subregion of western Africa, to which my country, the Republic of Guinea, belongs has been shaken by two fratricidal conflicts in Liberia and in Sierra Leone. In Liberia, the recent democratic and transparent elections held on 19 July 1997 under the aegis of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), with the support of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the United Nations and such friendly countries as the United States of America, the Netherlands, Denmark and France, have been crowned with success. We welcome the Ministerial Meeting of the 19 Special Conference on Liberia that is taking place today in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, and we hope that it will lead to the mobilization of substantial resources for the rebuilding of that fraternal country. The consolidation of peace and stability there is at stake. The Republic of Guinea, faithful to its policy of peace and good-neighbourliness, has worked unflaggingly for the success of such efforts. For the record, it will be recalled that this is the first time that an African subregional organization, determined to shoulder its responsibilities, has managed to initiate, lead and successfully carry out a peacekeeping operation. We would also like to salute here the support being given by the international community to ECOWAS for the restoration of constitutional legitimacy in Sierra Leone, which was the victim of a coup d’état on 25 May 1997. The consequences of the conflicts in Liberia, which lasted for seven years, and in Sierra Leone, which has been going on for six years, have weighed heavily on the Republic of Guinea. These are two neighbouring countries that share hundreds of kilometres of frontiers with Guinea. We have had to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons. The Republic of Guinea, a country of 7 million inhabitants, has up to 650,000 refugees, or one tenth of its population. In taking in the refugees it has had to pay a heavy price and make enormous sacrifices. In the border areas the environment and infrastructures have deteriorated under the demographic pressure. Schools have been closed to serve as shelters for refugees. We have also had to cope with many health problems of all kinds. Because of this exceptional situation the members of ECOWAS, meeting at Conakry on 26 June 1997, launched an appeal for emergency assistance for the Republic of Guinea. That appeal is beginning to be heeded by many countries and international organizations.Here we would like to thank most warmly the People’s Republic of China, the State of Kuwait, the United States of America, France, Canada, Qatar, Italy and the Organization of African Unity, which have already demonstrated their solidarity with us. I would be remiss if, out of a desire to inform the Assembly of the problems of western Africa, I failed to give due attention to conflicts tearing other African countries and other regions of the world asunder. With regard to the Great Lakes region, my delegation would encourage all initiatives to establish a climate of peace and stability in that area. Similarly, we would like to voice our concern at the deterioration of the situation in the Congo. While urging the parties to the conflict to observe the ceasefire and persevere in their efforts at negotiation, we reaffirm our support for the tireless efforts being made by all those of goodwill to reach a settlement of that crisis. Turning to Western Sahara, the Republic of Guinea welcomes the appointment of a new Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara and hopes that the personal input of that diplomat will foster the peaceful implementation of the United Nations settlement plan. Other parts of the world are also experiencing unrest that threatens international peace and security. We shall confine ourselves here to the situation in the Middle East. The Republic of Guinea encourages the efforts being made to find a just and lasting settlement in the Middle East. Notwithstanding current difficulties, we must persevere. Peace, a just and equitable peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours, is essential. Peace will remake that region in the interests of all its peoples and turn it into a magnet for all the nations of the world. The only way to achieve that is through negotiation. In the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts, Africa is increasingly shouldering its own responsibilities. This new approach is in keeping with current developments, and the international community should encourage and support it. The Republic of Guinea, which pursues a policy of peace and economic development under the leadership of a man of peace and tolerance, the President of the Republic, Brigadier General Lansana Conté, will be prepared, as in the past, to bear its share of responsibility for solving African problems. A dark cloud always has a silver lining. It is comforting to note that life on the African continent is not confined to crises and conflicts. The struggle of African peoples to emerge from poverty has made striking progress in recent years. The needs of economic development have compelled all African countries to adapt their State institutions and redirect their policies to cope with the changes of the new era. 20 Today, there are many bilateral and multilateral initiatives to help Africa get off the ground. Most of those initiatives draw on the lessons of the past and, happily, avoid the imposition of patterns or stereotypes; they take into account the real needs of the African people, who are increasingly involved in the choice of development plans and programmes. Measures to convert, suspend or write off debts are part of that process. We face major challenges, whose diversity and complexity concern us and call for urgent solutions commensurate with the expectations and aspirations of our peoples. The Republic of Guinea is confident that the current session will produce decisions enabling our Organization fully to carry out its noble mission as we approach the third millennium. I conclude on that note of hope and optimism.