"The delegation of Botswana aligns itself with the statement delivered by Tunisia on behalf of the African Group. Mr. President, how can we ensure that natural resources are exploited for the common good?
"Africa is home to some of the richest natural resources in the world ranging from oil, uranium, gold, diamonds, tropical hard wood to coal and ivory.
The revenues from these natural resources are the mainstay of the economies of many African countries including my own, Botswana.
"In recent years, natural resources were implicated in a number of conflicts in Africa. Although Africa has had a large share of such conflicts and the vast
majority of victims are Africans, Africans are not the only culprits. Some who benefit from the resources through manufacturing and illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons and ammunition are in other parts of the world.
"The conflict over resources is neither new nor unique to Africa. Throughout history, there are many examples of conflict over land, wildlife resources and water. Natural resources and conflict probably began when humankind started hunting and gathering. The scramble for Africa by colonial powers for instance, entailed conflict with Africans over their natural resources. "The challenge we face is how to eliminate this old-age evil of grabbing and fighting over natural resources. The seeds of conflict are sowed when a group of people either grab what does not belong to them or exclude others from benefiting from their national heritage. "Mr. President, surely we must end all wars so that human energy, intellect and natural resources as well
as advances in science and technology can be deployed to the service of humanity. "The Security Council is correctly debating this matter today because it concerns humanity as a whole.
The human family must find the means to live at peace with one another. As Member States, we have individual and collective responsibility to do all in our power to contribute towards the prevention and settlement of conflict.
"We must combine our efforts to break the link between illegal transaction in natural resources and armed conflicts. However, in doing so, we should avoid demonizing natural resources and stifling legitimate trade in such resources. "In this respect, the peace building and post conflict reconstruction and recovery in affected countries deserve strong support to enable them to speedily establish effective institutional and requisite internal controls to manage their resources for the common good.
People in affected countries should not only enjoy peace and security, but most importantly they must also benefit from the wealth derived from natural resources which is their common heritage.
"Mr. President, the delegation of Botswana is strongly convinced that for most developing countries, natural resources should really be a source of hope
and opportunity for a better future rather than a threat or a curse. Botswana can indeed attest to the good that diamonds can do. "There can be no doubt however that left alone, diamonds cannot do anything. Positive and innovative actions, policies and practices by people combined with good leadership are critical to transforming a resource to good use. Political stability, good governance, people centred development and respect for the rule of law as well as transparent and accountable national systems are essential for the efficient management of these resources for the common good. "Botswana fully supports the Kimberley Process.
This is a practical mechanism underpinned by General Assembly and Security Council resolutions calling for accountable and transparent internal controls and systems at the national level as well as international measures to monitor and track the trade in rough diamonds. "The strength of the Kimberley Process is in collaboration, commitment and partnership. It enlists the co-operation and participation of different global stakeholders, namely, exporting and importing countries, non governmental organizations and the diamond industry to ensure full compliance. "Today almost all international trade in diamonds is processed through the Kimberley Process and diamonds have become a major source of funding for social progression and economic development in many countries, particularly in Africa. The Kimberley Process continues to be a major success in curbing production and trade in conflict diamonds. "Botswana is also strongly committed to the implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). To this end, we continue to carefully manage our wildlife resources in particular, elephants. The result is that today, we have huge and healthy elephant populations. It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that we consider it a legitimate demand that we be allowed to sell our huge stockpiles of ivory which in any case were harvested from animals that died naturally. "Mr. President, there is agreement on the urgent need to effectively prevent conflict over natural resources. In doing so, we should not establish mechanisms that create conditionalities for trade in natural resources and place a heavy burden on exporting countries. This would be unfortunate as it would set new trade barriers.
"We must not demonize or stigmatize natural resources. Natural resources do not cause conflict. They simply do not! It is illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons, human greed, mismanagement, corruption and exploitation that generate conflict! The seedlings of conflict are planted when the vast majority of citizens are excluded from enjoying the wealth of their national heritage. "There is no single way to address the issue of conflict over resources. We call for equal accountability for those who manufacture and export arms and those who use the proceeds of the sale of natural resources NOT to produce food, provide education, health care, clean water and communications infrastructure BUT rather subvert and divert such proceeds to purchase and import arms in order to perpetrate or fuel war on their populations.
"Most African countries are dependent on natural resources for their foreign exchange earnings. In this regard, it is crucially important to avoid mechanisms that can adversely impact on the ability of African countries to profitably exploit their natural resources.
"Mr. President, in conclusion we need a wise combination of measures to assist Africa to urgently and effectively tackle the challenges of underdevelopment. The phenomenon of Natural Resources and Conflict is common to Africa because of the problem of underdevelopment. In the highly industrialized countries it no longer exists because the economies are primarily dependant on science and technology and highly skilled services.
"If natural resources are demonized, the result would be that only natural resources from Africa would be excluded from international trade. Mechanisms that can adversely impact on the ability of African countries to profitably exploit their natural resources should be avoided. Underdevelopment in Africa therefore deserves urgent attention.
Strong partnership, assured support and mutually beneficial co-operation in tackling this problem are key to solving the question of Natural Resources and Conflict.
