POVERTY IS COLOSSAL POWDER-KEG WHICH CAN EXPLODE WITHOUT MOST OF WORLD REALIZING ITS NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES, ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT SAYS

Press Release
GA/SM/168

POVERTY IS COLOSSAL POWDER-KEG WHICH CAN EXPLODE WITHOUT MOST OF WORLD REALIZING ITS NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES, ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT SAYS

In Address to Foreign Affairs College of China, President Discusses Issues Related to Poverty, Globalization and Humanitarian Intervention

Following is the text of an address by Theo-Ben Gurirab, President of the General Assembly, to the Foreign Affairs College of China, which was delivered on 30 May in Beijing:

I left New York last Thursday, as the United States House of Representatives signed off the Permanent Normal Trade Relations Bill and left the next phase to the Senate, where all indications are that it is a done deal. That expected outcome will pave the way for China’s admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Let me be an optimist here and say, in advance, congratulations to this great country –- China –- and all its supporters for fighting a good fight.

Right now, I am fully and actively engaged in the hectic preparations for two important Special Sessions of the General Assembly, namely, Beijing +5 in New York and Copenhagen +5 in Geneva, both to take place next month.

On top of it all, it is my presidency’s duty and responsibility to ensure that the Millennium Summit, which will be held from 6 to 8 September in New York, will not only be a special and historic gathering of world leaders, but that the Millennium Summit will issue an outcome document which will help transform the United Nations into an emboldened, re-energized and democratized international body to deal effectively with the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century and beyond.

At the same time, I couldn’t afford missing the opportunity to pay a visit to China at the start of the new Millennium.

I cannot resist the urge to say what is on my mind about us -– China and Namibia -- as I face you all, my esteemed hosts and friends. That is to say that I am a Namibian patriot, a product of the long and bitter struggle that our people had to wage in order to wrest our freedom from the colonial enemy and to proclaim a hard-won liberation and national independence. I am a SWAPO leader of the generation which took up arms to fight against the military fortress of apartheid South Africa. And yes, eventually we won, wrote the Constitution and proclaimed the Republic of Namibia on 21 March 1990. This last March we celebrated our tenth anniversary.

It was this generation and its brave leaders who met Chinese diplomats in the early 1960s in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania, and began contacts

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and friendships through them with the courageous leaders and founders of the People’s Republic of China. Your great nation has, since those early days, maintained not only an enduring interest in but support for all the just causes of the African people. Today, the two sides continue to build together mutually supportive and mutually rewarding relations that also include exchange of meaningful experiences. The Sino-African Forum later in October will certainly serve as another milestone towards further expanding and deepening dialogue and cooperation between the two sides.

Together with President Nujoma and other SWAPO leaders and representatives, I have visited China on a number of occasions in the past. And like all of them, I have always been treated to a warm welcome and kind hospitality wherever I have gone around this friendly country.

In general terms, the current state of the world can hardly be characterized as being safer, kinder or more cooperative in terms of peace, human security and sustainable development. Because there are still lingering and hostile cold war- related attitudes, strategic rivalries and might-makes-right inspired projections of power. Indeed, new hotbeds of tension are mushrooming in our troubled world. More nuclear-weapon States have come to the fore and others are clamouring to emulate them.

On the other hand, and in some specific instances, we have been witnessing unprecedented economic growth, technological breakthroughs, emergence of information technology as well as increasing generation of wealth. But the truth is that in spite of this remarkable human progress, and notwithstanding the alleged promises of globalization, social dispartities exist everywhere and poverty continues to grow to dangerous proportions even in industrialized and wealthier countries. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. This does not augur well for the so-called new world order.

The United Nations and its specialized agencies continue to do their level- best to serve humankind but they are lacking in resources and lacking the much needed political back-up, on the part of Member States, to make a real difference in the lives of the people, to preserve the environment, to include and empower women and to protect the world´s children who are today victims of hunger, abuse and neglect.

I am, as you are aware, wearing at least three hats -- as Cabinet Minister, General Assembly President and as a concerned citizen of the world. But I must confess to you that I have not brought any reassuring message of salvation nor any magic formula to wipe off the face of our world all its ever increasing woes. Indeed, I even forgot to bring my crystal ball.

Instead, I am going to raise some selected issues and express my point of view to stimulate our interaction, in a manner of give and take. A short list of burning global issues includes, but is not limited to, nuclear weapons and proliferation; disarmament, security and stability; development, debt cancellation and poverty reduction; globalization, multilateral trade negotiations (inclusive of the WTO, the World Bank, the IMF and other kindred institutions); inter-State wars and ethnic armed conflicts; refugees, displaced persons and amputees; HIV/AIDS pandemic; gender equality and empowerment of women; and, last but not least, the United Nations reform, restructuring and democratization.

There are others and, no doubt, you could add some of your own to this list. As your country´s think tank in the field of foreign affairs, diplomacy and law, you are, I take it, also grappling with these and other critical international and regional issues on a daily basis. Let me say that I am most delighted at having this rare opportunity with you and appreciate your timely and kind invitation to deliver this address.

In this context, I would like to begin with the new century – twenty-first century – and the new millennium. I know there are many calendars and China, as an ancient civilization, has its own life, epochs and benchmarks. But I am sure you know what I mean. All the peoples of the world have high expectations that today and specifically the future will be brighter and better in their daily lives than in the past. Even the rich and famous are also seemingly looking for a new environment which will bring happiness and spiritual solace to them. So, all kinds of expectations abound.

In this secular world of ours, I am convinced that all of us -– rich and poor alike -– are hoping and expecting that the United Nations is the best place to find solutions that will remove from our minds and hearts wars, want and fear.

Globalization may offer immense opportunities towards a peaceful and prosperous world. But it should show a human face. Given our present unjust world, globalization creates new threats to human society, particularly for the poor and the needy. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report (1999) has identified these threats as being endemic poverty; financial volatility; economic insecurity; health insecurity; cultural insecurity; personal insecurity; environmental insecurity; political and community insecurity.

The very clear evidence of these multiple human insecurities is reflected in the peoples’ protests in Seattle (World Trade Organization), Washington, D.C. (World Bank and International Monetary Fund) and the last World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. Fear, want and uncertainties about the future, as well as the politics of exclusion, are demonstrably igniting these popular outbursts of the masses. And, I am afraid, they are not likely going to end soon. While we cannot stop globalization, we must all, acting together, try to tame it. Globalization must empower the people, and not bulldoze and impoverish them.

Now a word about poverty. Poverty is a colossal powder-keg which can explode without most of the industrialized countries and the rest of the world realizing its debilitating and negative consequences. In this connection, we have history´s lessons to go by. Exclusion, exploitation and discrimination have led to revolutions and far-reaching social changes in many countries over the centuries. Today, thanks to the Internet and CNN, we may all be able to see and be affected by the peoples’ –- the have-nots’ –- demands for change. And they will not always be asking but seizing power and real assets.

For example, what is happening in Zimbabwe and also in Kenya, as regards the land issue, could easily, and without any warning, happen in South Africa, where the land problem is potentially most serious, and also in Namibia, my own country. Considerations of law, restraint and compensation will all be cast out of the window and the peoples´ power will prevail. Africa is not an exception in this. These things happened in Europe, in your own Asia, including China, and other places in the past. A hungry man is an angry man. That is the most explosive fact.

Debt cancellation is another big problem pitting the industrialized creditor countries against the debtor developing countries. In Africa´s case –- where the majority of the debtor countries are -– we witness a situation which is rather ironic. During the days of military dictatorships in Africa, virtually all of them created by the West, more overseas development assistance flowed to Africa. Today democratization, political, economic and legal reforms are consistently being carried out and yet development aid is being reduced and, in some cases, shut down altogether. Was it, in the past, really humanitarianism, or only cold war manoeuvring?

Of late, we, however, see and welcome an encouraging trend in this vital area of South-North dialogue. Debt write-off is growing into a worldwide demand. And there is a positive response in some, but not yet in all, targeted countries. To perpetuate unbridled globalization on the affected developing countries is inhuman and, in practical terms, untenable. These countries have nothing to give, not even another cheek, because there is nothing left to give.

We cannot hope that they can really begin to build new, progressive and prosperous societies that will improve the quality of life for their citizens, while they are hard at fighting, tooth and nail, the suffocating debt burden. The so-called new world order must eschew the evils of the past in favour of justice and cooperation on the basis of equality and fair play.

While some people feel that the United Nations, poverty and debt have nothing to do with them and continue their lives “the usual way”, they cannot, for sure, hope to escape the scourge of HIV/AIDS. This killer disease knows no nationality, class, religion, generational and gender differences. AIDS kills all and sundry. It may yet become, if it is not already the case, the single most devastating challenge to governments and the human society all over the world.

HIV/AIDS is directing a menacing onslaught against not only the cream of the crop but, more importantly, against the future leaders and the economically productive strata of the society. The figures are mind-boggling. More than 32 million people around the world are sufferers, of whom 22 million are in sub- Saharan Africa. Sustainable development and human resource development are being derailed and even reversed by this major human tragedy. One of its severest fallouts is the phenomenon of AIDS orphans -– children left behind because both parents died. At the United Nations and in other concerned quarters, serious efforts have been undertaken to educate the public, mobilize resources and to try to change the hearts of the big pharmaceutical companies to make life-saving drugs available and affordable to the victims by reducing the cost.

My next topic deals with children and armed conflict, especially the fate of child soldiers. I simply want to reiterate my unswerving commitment to add my voice and expend more energy in concert with all those who are dedicated to saving lives and restoring the dignity and well-being of the world´s children. Under Namibia´s presidency, the Security Council adopted its first ever resolution on this urgent issue, and urged the Member States to desist from allowing any further victimization of children under whatever pretext.

I, personally, presided over that historic meeting of the Security Council, in August last year, and since then the plight of children has become the theme of my presidency of the General Assembly. On 25 May -– African Freedom Day -– the General Assembly adopted two new Optional Protocols, pursuant to the goals and ideals of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child.

This latest action by the General Assembly will further strengthen the existing relevant regimes for the enhancement of the welfare of children and their protection from child labour, sexual exploitation, as well as being forced to fight wars, under the age of 18, and into pornography. I am happy and welcome this laudable outcome. Nonetheless, the work must continue unabated until all children are safe, happy and back to school.

I have one more serious issue to raise before I conclude. It is the notion of humanitarian intervention, which is in currency these days not only at the United Nations but in the international media as well. Last year, the General Assembly robustly debated the issue and decided to keep it on the front burner for more future debates. I, myself, as Foreign Minister of Namibia, in a rather strong language, denounced this threatening notion as being ill-conceived and unpalatable.

I had essentially three concerns, then and now, in my mind, namely, the Charter of the United Nations, the sanctity of States’ sovereignty and, at that time, NATO´s unilateral invasion of and military attack against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia -– a process that led to the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. Any such action, now or in the future, outside a clear and specific mandate of the Security Council, is unacceptable to Namibia.

And we’re not alone in this. The overwhelming majority of the United Nations Member States have taken similar positions. I expect that this issue will be one of the burning concerns which the forthcoming Millennium Summit will take up and give a measured and binding direction. We don´t need hegemony today or any idea that certain world Powers should arrogate to themselves the right to act as policemen of the world.

In conclusion, I would like to reaffirm the obvious. That is, China and Namibia are old friends and mutually trusting cooperating partners. The mutual exchange of official visits at the level of Heads of State, as well as other high- level visits, have further strengthened our bilateral relations, technical exchanges and, in particular, the growing commercial ties. Namibia´s steadfast position on the “One China Principle” is well-known and needs no further exposition here. This position will never change, until the Chinese leaders themselves advise our Government otherwise.

My assumption of office as SWAPO´s Chief Representative at the United Nations in 1972 coincided with the Mainland´s repossession of the Chinese seat in the United Nations and its permanent membership of the Security Council. I witnessed and embraced that historic return of China to the United Nations and the return to normality in international relations.

For the last year and a half, Namibia has been serving, as a non-permanent member, on the Security Council. Our two friendly countries, with other like- minded States, have been working closely together, in this context, to further enhance world peace and security and other just causes in the world. This month, China holds the presidency of the Council and our support is always assured.

My very last words come from Mahathir Mohamad, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, whom I will once again glady quote on this occasion. He said recently:

“The rich countries of the North are ganging up…. We, on the other hand, are greatly divided, partly divided because we don’t seem to know how to work together, but mostly because the super-Powers are actively preventing us from cooperating.”

Good guys versus bad guys divide-and-control game is still vigorously being pursued in the domain of international relations. Unfortunately, some third world countries – the countries of the South -- fall prey to this old and nasty trick. What Dr. Mahathir has articulated echoes the collective assessment of the current state of affairs pertaining to South-North dialogue and dealings.

This assessment, in fact, underlined the conclusions reached by the recent South Summit (organized by the Group of 77 and China) in its Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted on 14 April, in Havana, Cuba, which states:

“We remain fully committed to the spirit of the Group of 77 and China, which has helped our countries since the inception of the Group in the early 1960s to pursue a common and constructive course of action for the protection and promotion of our collective interests and genuine international cooperation for development. At this historic event, we reaffirm our commitment to the principles and objectives that have guided the Group from the start. We also rededicate ourselves to strengthening the unity and solidarity of the Group in pursuit of its declared objectives and to reinforcing the role it is called upon to play in international economic relations.”

The South cannot stray away from our collective interest based on our longstanding unity and solidarity concretized at the 1955 Bandung Conference and numerous subsequent gatherings of the countries of the South. I strongly believe that China and Namibia will never be found wanting in pursuit of this noble goal. United we stand, divided we fall. Progress, my friends, is made by those who stand up and stare adversity in the face, fortified in the knowledge that the final victory will be theirs. May our friendship and cooperation continue to grow from strength to strength.

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