IN ROME, SECRETARY-GENERAL SPEAKS IN SUPPORT OF DISPLACED PERSONS

Press Release
SG/SM/5866

IN ROME, SECRETARY-GENERAL SPEAKS IN SUPPORT OF DISPLACED PERSONS

(Received from the Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Rome.)

ROME, 9 January -- In Rome, the Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros- Ghali, took part in a ceremony organized by the Development Programme for Displaced Persons, Refugees and Returnees in Central America. On that occasion, he made the following statement:

I am particularly pleased to be here with you today and take part in this important ceremony.

The Development Programme for Displaced Persons, Refugees and Returnees in Central America is a shining example of the United Nations ability to take effective action when it is supported by the political will of States.

As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I should like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Government and people of Italy for their generosity and spirit of solidarity in favour of refugees.

Without Italy's constant support and scrupulous follow-up, the Programme would not have achieved the success that we are celebrating together today.

The Programme can be a source of pride for the United Nations as a whole, and for all the donors without whom nothing would have been possible.

I therefore believe that the programme is in every way remarkable: for its geographical scope, since it deals with six Central American States at the regional and national levels and addresses both humanitarian concerns and the need for sustainable human development. For the cooperation that it promoted among the various United Nations agencies. Cooperation based on the sharing of their knowledge and the pooling of their experience. Cooperation involving the daily need to invent the means to deal with situations that fall within the mandate of these agencies. Finally, the Programme is, in my opinion,

exemplary in its constant efforts to integrate the different dimensions of development by creating the political, legal, economic and social conditions for the repatriation of refugees.

Begun six years ago by the United Nations Development Programme, the Central America Programme is an outstanding example of the success the United Nations has achieved in consolidating peace after conflicts. It is also living proof of the Organization's ability to provide concrete solutions to the world's problems. Finally, it sets a useful precedent and provides invaluable experience that can benefit other refugees all over the world. Indeed, we are well aware that the plight of refugees is currently one of the most serious and worrisome problems for us all. The refugee situation, with all the despair that follows in its wake, is a constant reproach to our vision of the international community.

From parts of the former Yugoslavia to the Caucasus, from Palestine to the Horn of Africa, from Central Asia to South-East Asia, there are today nearly 17 million people living in countries where they must sometimes relearn everything, including the meaning of life.

I should also like to emphasize the tragic situation of displaced persons in their own country. There are today more than 30 million such persons. They too are waiting for our assistance. It is inadmissible that those who have managed to cross the border should benefit from the rules of international law while, at times only several hundred metres away, those who were not able to leave their country remain unprotected.

The many conflicts that followed the end of the cold war compel us to adopt a more global, more demanding and more ambitious vision of peace. The mandate that has been given over the past few years to peace-keeping operations attests to this need. In particular, I should like to mention the activities that we have conducted in El Salvador.

In order to enable refugees to return to their homelands and villages, we must reconstruct infrastructures, remove mines from roads and fields, protect human rights, restore the rule of law and establish democracy. But we must go further. For the question of refugees is also an area for preventive diplomacy, to which I am so attached. We must therefore redouble our efforts to prevent situations that cause forced displacements. People should not become potential refugees. Of course, human rights violations are most often the immediate cause of the mass displacement of populations. However, in addition to political causes, there are also economic and social causes, such as poverty, malnutrition and underdevelopment, which drive individuals from their homes. The international community as a whole must take account of these forced migrations and find ways of dealing with them.

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It is therefore clear that the Programme is only one stage on the long road that we must travel together in order to assist refugees and protect human rights.

The kind of activities that we have carried out in Central America should also be conducted on other continents. In particular, I should like to mention the dire situation of refugees and displaced persons in Africa. I am aware of the will of the Government and people of Italy to take action also in favour of African men and women. I am aware of the important role that they have played in the international community's efforts to provide assistance to countries like Somalia and Mozambique. And I congratulate them.

May the success of the Programme be, for all of us, an encouragement and an incentive to pursue our efforts to implement the lofty ideals of the Charter of the United Nations.

I should like, once again, to express my appreciation to Italy for its commitment and extend my warm thanks to all those men and women who have been involved in these activities, which are a credit to the international community.

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