President Mandela, in an impassioned speech to the United Nations General Assembly today, called on the nuclear-weapon States to make a firm commitment to eliminating nuclear weapons and on the global community to eradicate poverty. Mandela, the third to speak in the Assembly's opening session after Brazil's Foreign Minister Luiz Felipe Lampreia and U.S. President William Clinton, received two standing ovations from the full assembly hall.

Mandela recalled the very first resolution of the United Nations, adopted in January 1946, which called for "the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction," and lamented the fact that "we still do not have concrete and generally accepted proposals supported by a clear commitment by the nuclear-weapon States to the speedy, final and total elimination of nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons capabilities."

Mandela asked those who justify "these terrible and terrifying weapons of mass destruction - why do they need them anyway?"

"In reality, no rational answer can be advanced to explain in a satisfactory manner what, in the end, is the consequence of Cold War inertia and an attachment to the use of the threat of brute force to assert the primacy of some States over others."

Mandela announced that in an attempt to contribute to the elimination of these weapons, South Africa, together with Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Slovenia and Sweden will be submitting a draft resolution to the First Committee (Disarmament and Security) for consideration by the General Assembly. He called on all members of the United Nations to support the resolution, which will be entitled "Towards a Nuclear Weapons Free World: The Need for a New Agenda."

Ambassador Luiz Felipe Lampreia, Foreign Minister of Brazil, who opened the General Assembly debate, also noted the nuclear disarmament initiative of the eight aforementioned countries.

Commendation letters can be sent to President Mandela,
C/o The Permanent Mission of South Africa to the United Nations,
333 East 38th Street,
9th Floor, New York, NY 10016.
Fax (1) 212 692 2498.