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<html> <head> <meta name="Generator" content="Corel WordPerfect 8"> <title></title> </head> <body text="#000000" link="#0000ff" vlink="#551a8b" alink="#ff0000" bgcolor="#c0c0c0"> 99/51 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE LLOYD AXWORTHY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS TO THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL OPEN DEBATE ON "THE STATE OF AFRICA" UNITED NATIONS, New York September 29, 1999 (1:45 p.m. EDT) I would like to thank the Netherlands for convening this session on the state of Africa. Across the continent, Africans are seizing opportunities to build vibrant, stable communities. Democracy is resurgent, civil society is taking hold, prospects for growth are promising. The "African renaissance" is underway. Economic and social development are, of course, central to these advances. Canada's long-standing commitment to working with Africans for this purpose is unshaken. A full third of Canada's development assistance is devoted to Africa. Canada has forgiven all the ODA [Official Development Assistance] debt of the poorest African countries. This year, we helped forge consensus on a mechanism to expand debt relief for the poorest. We have made combatting dangers that hit Africans particularly hard, including HIV/AIDS, a priority. We agree long-term prosperity for Africa depends on continued strong support for sustainable development. But the freedom from want is closely linked to the freedom from fear. Societies cannot flourish in conditions of violence and intimidation. Too many parts of the continent remain caught in the vicious grip of armed conflict. The security of Africans in these situations is fragile. Africa's people pay an especially high price in terms of threats to their personal security. That is why Africans are working to confront these threats directly. On a continent where landmines kill and maim more people than anywhere else, Africans took the lead in the campaign to ban anti-personnel mines. Many of the 100 to 500 million assault rifles and other small arms now in circulation have found their way to African battle zones. ECOWAS [Economic Community of West African States] countries have had enough and imposed a moratorium on arms flow in their region. Africa's children are the principal victims of the appalling wars that ravage the African continent. More are drafted into the service of violence as child soldiers than on any other continent. This year, Mozambique gathered Africans and others to take action on this front. Africans recognize that the new war economies -- marrying the brutality of warlords with the avarice of mercenaries, arms dealers and certain commercial interests -- exert a terrifying hold on many of their communities. Africans have categorically rejected the assumption of power by force. The decision this year by OAU [Organization of African Unity] leaders in Algiers is a milestone of enormous importance. Clearly, Africans themselves have made the security of people an impetus for action. The rest of us should take care to listen and support -- even if some around this table may not share their agenda. Equal attention, common action and collective resources to advance Africa's security needs are required. Anything less, especially from the Council, is an abdication of our shared obligations. Preventing and resolving conflict are a starting point. Africans are striving to end conflict: the OAU in Ethiopia-Eritrea; SADC [Southern Africa Development Community] in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and the Arusha Process in Burundi. Peace is also being established in Sierra Leone, largely as a result of ECOWAS mediation and years of commitment by ECOMOG [Military Observer Group of the Economic Community of West African States]. International support can bolster these efforts and help build local capacity. That is behind Canada's support for Commonwealth efforts in Sierra Leone. At the Moncton Summit, Canada announced a three-year training program to strengthen peace and security skills in countries of La Francophonie. We are contributing to strengthening the OAU -- especially the conflict management centre -- and are committed to working for still closer consultation and co-operation between the UN, the OAU and sub-regional organizations. I welcome the presence here of OAU Secretary General Dr. Salim Salim and Ministers speaking on behalf of the sub-regional organizations of Africa. Making peace is not enough. Keeping, building and consolidating peace are essential. Africans are increasingly called on to serve as peacekeepers. Canadian peacekeepers know their skill and bravery first hand. We are helping to build on these talents with further training at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Nova Scotia and its new office in Montreal. Where conflict has ended, there is movement away from a culture of war to societies at peace. These efforts need help from other governments, civil society and business. Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants are a challenge. The plight of war-affected children is also a major concern. Building on Mali's efforts on small arms, Canada and Ghana will host a conference next year to map out an integrated approach to these peace and security concerns in West Africa. Indeed, much of Canada's $30 million Peacebuilding Initiative is focused on shoring up these and other efforts, with projects responding to local priorities and needs. Last week, my government announced a further contribution of $4.5 million for Sierra Leone to help civilians, particularly children, affected by the conflict. Controlling the marketplace of conflict which fuels local African war machines is also vital to prevent further suffering. Encouraging more responsible business and government behaviour is key. Efforts by Canada and others in the Wassenar group to respect the ECOWAS' moratorium on arms flows are an example. Business can contribute in other ways. If they want to harness Africa's economic potential they could join the effort to remove landmines that not only kill but also impede access to resources. The Security Council has a responsibility to protect the security of Africans. Contrary to what some suggest, it has the authority and the mandate to take action against those who profit from misery, to help establish sustainable peace, and to intervene in the face of massive suffering. It should use its mandate forcefully and creatively to ease the suffering of those caught in zones of conflict in Africa. More resolute action to cut off the ways and means for waging armed conflict and to ensure that these sanctions work is vital. This is Canada's objective in Angola in proposing tougher measures to reduce the illegal diamond revenues, to limit access to the petroleum sources, and to curtail the acquisition of arms and ammunition -- all of which make it possible for UNITA [National Union of the Total Independence of Angola] to pursue this murderous war. I am confident that, if the will exists within the Security Council, these sanctions can be a means of encouraging UNITA to return to the negotiating table. If successful, the lessons learned here could well be applied in other conflict zones. When there is peace to keep, there is no substitute for collective Council action. This is no less true, and the demand no less urgent, in Africa than elsewhere. We may be faced with the need for robust, comprehensive peace operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and possibly in Ethiopia-Eritrea. The risks and the costs for these operations must be assumed by us all. Making this solely, or even primarily, a local responsibility, and simply passing around a hat to see what might be dropped into it, is shameful and inadequate. In Sierra Leone, ECOMOG has shouldered the burden long enough. Let us ensure that the mission this Council agrees to send to implement peace is coloured blue -- UN-authorized, UN-managed, UN-funded -- and that it is as integrated as possible with remaining ECOMOG forces. The bitter experience of the individual Africans who have suffered most -- victims of genocide in Rwanda, widespread starvation in Somalia, pervasive terror in Sierra Leone, slave-trading in Sudan and senseless war between Ethiopia and Eritrea -- should demand effective intervention by the Security Council. Such is the responsibility of this body and no other. This humanitarian imperative has been applied elsewhere -- in Kosovo, in East Timor, but not in Africa -- raising legitimate concern about how evenly this is put into practice. The Council needs to establish common criteria to trigger humanitarian intervention, apply them consistently in consultation with regional partners, and overcome the reluctance of some to commit their people and their resources to help the desperate victims of war in far-off lands. The security of Africans should be a matter of concern to all. It is for Canadians. That is why Canada is devoted to African development -- the surest way to ensure sustainable peace. That is why Canadians -- judges, police, teachers, humanitarian workers -- serve in Africa. That is why Canadians were willing to lead a multinational effort in Zaire to protect the safety of a terrorized refugee population, and why today we continue to play a part in African peacekeeping operations. Canada is the only remaining non-African contributor to MINURCA [UN Mission in the Central African Republic]. Prime Minister Chrétien will reaffirm this commitment when he visits Africa later this year. As for the Council, much of its time is already absorbed by African issues. The focus needs to be more on both the quality and the effectiveness of the attention it devotes to its African agenda. To this end, an approach to Africa's security challenges that takes human security concerns fully into account makes sense. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has provided us with an insightful progress report on the causes of conflict in Africa. The Secretary- General's comments reinforce the relevance of a human-centred agenda for Africa; his recommendations underline the need for a comprehensive approach -- outside and inside the Council. It falls to Africans, members of the Council and the broader global community -- governments and civil society -- to take this agenda forward and secure peace for the people of the African continent. Thank you. </body> </html>

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