Address to the Fifty-Fourth Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers

"This Council is meeting at a crucial juncture in the history of our continent and the world as a whole. We are meeting at at time when a new World Order is emerging. The politics of Cold War have given way to cooperative relationships between the United States and the Soviet Union. Eastern Europe is undergoing fundamental change. We are already seeing some indications of what this new world order will look like. The recent war in the Gulf and its ongoing repercussions bear important lessons. But the challenge before this council is to see what role Africa will play in the fashioning of the new World order. We must insist that, whatever emerges eventually, it must be an order hinged on legality and the scrupulous respect for the principles of international law. It must be an order which recognizes the indivisibility of peace and prosperity and one which will challenge the world to genuine interdependence. Africa must be permitted to benefit from the improved international political climate."