Mr. President,

The delegation of Indonesia considers as both timely and appropriate for the General Assembly to undertake a review and reapprisal of our collective and concerted endeavors to restore peace and stability and enhance prospects for development in the African continent. Our deliberations today reflect the continuing concern of the international community with these issues facing Africa and its collective determination to forge a partnership of the continent with the rest of the world in resolving them.

We are grateful to the Secretary-General for his report of 13 April 1998 on "The causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa" which contains balanced suggestions between economic and security issues on the one hand and internal and international aspects on the other, and whose implementation would bolster peace and security in the continent. We also support the five priority areas he outlined at the outset of our debate. In our view, the steps to be taken by the Secretariat and other United Nations organs on follow-up activities based on these specific proposals contain realistic and achievable goals in mitigating the numerous problems confronting the African countries. Indonesia reiterates its support for the efforts being made to reach the goals envisioned by the people of Africa, in concert with the position taken by NAM in its Final Document adopted in Durban, South Africa. The Movement, while recognizing the recent positive developments in the socio-economic fields in Africa, injected a fresh, new momentum in our continuing endeavors to collectively address the various inter-linked issues through a comprehensive and integrated approach.

Based on the experience of many member states, including indonesia, a recognition of the inter-related nature of peace, security and development against the backdrop of a world that is entering a qualitatively new horison should lead to the peaceful resolution of disputes which will mitigate the negative impact of globalization that threaten to marginalize the developing countries and further reduce the minimal advantages enjoyed by them.

As Africa stands poised on the threshold of the next millennium and towards attaining its goals of stable peace and economic prosperity, its well endowed natural resources and the innate genius of its people will be a force to be reckoned with in the global economy. However, such a prospect calls for an environment of peace and security without which development would be impeded. Hence, my delegation views with apprehension the persistence of conflicts in various parts of Africa resulting in unconscionable toll in human lives and material devastation. In this regard, we welcome the involvement of the United Nations, the OAU and sub-regional organizations and commend their tireless efforts to resolve the disputes peacefully and amicably through dialogue and negotiations as conflicts in Africa are not amenable to military solution. There is much that these organizations can achieve through working in concert in removing obstacles that endanger security and thereby facilitate the peace process. Ultimately, however, it is up to the leaders of Africa to submerge their differences in the larger interests of their peoples and countries. The need of the hour demands no less.

It is pertinent to note that in its presidential statement of 16 September 1998, the Security Council affirmed its intention to take steps consistent with its responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations and called for the strengthening of Africa's capacity to participate in all aspects of peacekeeping and for increased bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the field of peacekeeping. The resolution adopted by the Council (S/RES/1197 (1998) last month focuses our attention on the need to undertake a series of measures that would contribute to conflict prevention and resolution. Taken together, they would augment Africa's capabilities with regard to both peacekeeping and dealing with conflict situations and thereby contribute to the stability of the continent.

It is also self-evident that in the arduous task of building the essential infrastructure for peace and stability in the African continent, the international community must work together with the African countries in strengthening the continent's economic and social foundations. Poverty and pestilence, illiteracy and hunger, breed despair and resentment. Only through sustained economic and social development will people gain a vested interest in working towards peaceful solutions of their differences. It no longer suffice for the international community to convene and merely engage in perfunctory expressions of empathy and support for the African countries without extending concrete assistance. If, indeed, there is a genuine desire to prevent humanitarian disaster, or to avoid costly peacekeeping operations and peacemaking efforts, then comprehensive, concerted and concrete action on economic development cooperation must be taken. Anything less will cast aspersions on the credibility of the international community's commitment to the cause of Africa. Let me emphasize our full support to the Assembly's endeavors in exercising its jurisdiction and in fulfilling its responsibilities to Africa.

Indonesia's commitment to the people of Africa in the past has been demonstrated, among others, in its support of African development during its Chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement, participation in such forums as the UN-NADAF, support for the United Nations Special Initiative on Africa and bilateral cooperation with a number of African countries. Finally, I am pleased to inform that Indonesia had convened a High-level Advisory Meeting on the South Summit in Jakarta last August and will convene the forthcoming High-level Meeting on Regional/Sub-regional Cooperation in Bali from 2 to 4 December of this year which will pave the way for the next South Summit Meeting in Cuba prior to the Millenium Assembly in the year 2000 to further intensify the South-South cooperation. It is our hope that these processes will lead towards meeting the challenges of globalization facing the South, in particular, Africa, and thereby facilitate the integration of the developing countries into the mainstream of global economy.

Thank you, Mr. President.