I
would like to begin by congratulating the Republic of
Montenegro on its recent accession to the United
Nations Organization. We fully understand the
challenges that country faces and wish it every success
in the establishment of a secure and prosperous State.
I wish to express our highest appreciation to the
President of the General Assembly at its sixtieth
session, Mr. Jan Eliasson, for his enthusiastic
dedication and skilful leadership during the past year.
We now sincerely look forward to working with the
President of the General Assembly at this session,
Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, and I pledge her
Latvia’s full support. I also congratulate her on being
only the third woman ever to preside over the General
Assembly.
A year ago, we marked the sixtieth anniversary of
the United Nations by setting out a far-reaching reform
plan to bring the Organization closer to the needs of
the twenty-first century. While the United Nations
spectrum of peacekeeping, humanitarian and human
rights operations has increased significantly in recent
years, the United Nations must continue to step up its
activities if it is to meet the urgent needs of millions of
people throughout the world.
The current situation presents us with great
challenges at the global level that require us to act with
urgency and coordination. We will be able to attain the
Millennium Development Goals and reduce the
crushing poverty that is debilitating the lives of billions
of people across this planet only if we pool our
resources and redouble our efforts. We need to pursue
our campaign against well-known scourges that include
06-52737 24
contagious disease and the destruction of the global
environment.
(spoke in English)
We can take satisfaction in noting that a number
of serious and meaningful measures have already been
taken to alleviate the plight of the world’s poor. Those
important steps must be followed up by continued
measures to help the world’s poorest nations become
more self-sufficient. At the same time, the developing
countries must do their utmost to implement the
practices of good governance, strengthen their
institutions and abide by the rule of law.
It is worth emphasizing that the United Nations
has been an effective instrument in those countries
where the political will has existed to cooperate fully
with the United Nations programmes and proposals for
alleviating the plight of the poor. At the same time, the
efficiency of United Nations operations has also been
called into question, and not without reason. More
innovative approaches need to be deployed for
alleviating poverty and reaching set development
objectives. Among those, we should look more to the
effective use of information, communication and
modern technologies.
I well remember the excitement at the
Millennium Summit in 2000, when we adopted the
Millennium Declaration. Progress towards reaching the
Millennium Development Goals, alas, is still
unacceptably slow. The statistics on infant mortality
and maternal health, among others, remain particularly
distressing. Millions of our fellow human beings have
no access to clean drinking water, let alone more
sophisticated comforts. We cannot remain indifferent
when so much needs to be done.
In many parts of the world, the misery brought on
by poverty is compounded by such debilitating and
mortal diseases as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and
malaria. While much has already been achieved to
control the spread of those afflictions, further
partnerships need to be developed with other
stakeholders, including those in the private sector.
Only a few days ago, the States Members of the
United Nations concluded a High-level Dialogue on
International Migration and Development. The
dramatic increase of illegal migration in recent years
has placed great stress on the international system for
protecting refugees and asylum-seekers. The activities
of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees on migration issues should
be coordinated with regional cooperation efforts in
order to become more effective.
We have had the great misfortune to see terrorism
continue as a threat to international peace and security.
I welcome, therefore, the recent agreement on a Global
Counter-Terrorism Strategy and urge the United
Nations Member States to intensify their efforts to
reach a consensus on a comprehensive anti-terrorism
convention.
We have failed to make any substantial progress
over the past year in the area of disarmament and the
non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. That
is a fundamental issue for global peace and security
and I encourage all United Nations Member States to
demonstrate their willingness to move forward at a
faster pace.
The United Nations also needs to provide a
prompt and effective response when armed conflicts
arise. We must strive to make United Nations
peacekeeping a more effective and accepted instrument
of collective security. Too often in the past, the United
Nations has been unable to prevent genocide and
lasting bloodshed — in the Congo, in Rwanda, in the
former Yugoslavia and now in the Darfur region of the
Sudan. During the past 10 years, the operational
activity of the United Nations in peacekeeping has
quadrupled, but that may still not be enough. The
demand for rapid action cannot be met through United
Nations mechanisms alone, but requires a more
effective partnership between the United Nations and
regional organizations.
The most recent example of the need for a
concerted peacekeeping effort is the tragic sequence of
events in Israel and Lebanon this past summer.
Peacekeeping can facilitate solutions, but not impose
them. In Iraq and in Afghanistan, as well as in the
continuing conflict between the Israelis and the
Palestinians, there will be no durable peace until all
parties renounce the use of violence to achieve political
aims. A long-lasting settlement requires the political
will of all parties in the region to negotiate a viable
compromise in good faith, where a secure State of
Israel coexists side by side with an independent State
of Palestine.
Currently, the United Nations is uniquely
positioned to take a leading role in peacebuilding. We
25 06-52737
expect the recently established Peacebuilding
Commission to help those countries that are emerging
from conflict not to be drawn back into it, and hope
that the Commission will serve to promote the post-
conflict reconstruction and long-term development of
regions that have suffered from warfare.
Along with the promotion of peace and security
and the alleviation of poverty, the protection of human
rights is one of the main missions of the United
Nations. The recent creation of the Human Rights
Council will hopefully enable the United Nations to
respond more promptly and effectively in situations
where human rights come under threat. The Council
needs to provide real leadership to restore trust in the
United Nations as a guardian, defender and promoter
of that universal value.
However, the effectiveness of the Human Rights
Council depends entirely on the political will and
conduct of the Member States. We must work together
to ensure that this new institution, in which we have
placed such high hopes, truly serves the purpose for
which it was created.
During this session, we will face the difficult task
of furthering the reform of the United Nations. We
have to accept the fact that none of the United Nations
Member States will be able to attain absolutely
everything they desire from the reform process. At no
point should any Members think of negotiations for
these necessary reforms as a zero-sum game in which
some will be losers and some winners. It is possible to
arrive at solutions that constitute a win-win situation
for everybody. It takes hard work and a lot of patience,
but it can be done.
It is natural for different countries to have
different priorities and different threat perceptions.
That is a fact of life. It is precisely for that reason that
we need the United Nations as a central meeting place
where our common interests can be determined and our
common plans hammered out in an inclusive and
democratic manner. The ongoing reforms of the United
Nations are needed for the benefit and advantage of us
all, without exception.
The international agreements that are reached
within the United Nations bear a unique legitimacy,
moral weight and political authority. Yet it is no secret
that in an Organization with nearly 200 Members, the
decision-making process can be protracted.
Nevertheless, despite the painstakingly slow pace of
United Nations reform to date, there has been some
notable progress during the past year. It is vital for the
United Nations to continue striving for more trust and
goodwill among all our nations, for we simply cannot
afford to do otherwise.
There is general agreement that the time has
come for a serious overhaul of the United Nations
management system. An effective Secretariat is crucial
for the United Nations system’s ability to adapt to
evolving challenges. So far, only the initial steps have
been taken in transforming the United Nations into a
more efficient and accountable Organization. The time
has come for meaningful changes, and I hope that we
will establish tangible results during this sixty-first
session.
Mandate review is another essential element of
the reform process where our aspirations have been
higher than the result achieved. Only a fraction of the
numerous mandates have been classified and the
question of what to do with them is still pending. We
need to move ahead energetically, bearing in mind that
this is not a blind cost-cutting exercise but an ongoing
process of feedback needed to improve the
effectiveness and quality of the Organization’s work.
Rational use of resources and cost-efficiency will allow
us to do more with the resources at the command of the
United Nations, without any duplication of effort.
There has been a growing feeling among United
Nations Member States of the need for a revitalized
and more effective General Assembly. I welcome the
regular meetings among the Presidents of the General
Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and
Social Council with the aim of achieving maximum
complementarity among those principal organs. The
Charter of the United Nations provides us with the
fundamental guidelines for our work, and we should be
guided by it in a spirit of cooperation, not rivalry. It is
self-defeating, unproductive and wasteful to invest
time and effort in a competition among the main bodies
of the United Nations. Only by rising above such
internal divisions can the United Nations hope to truly
fulfil the leading role that it has to play in order to
serve the needs of the world community as a whole.
We must also not neglect the reform of the
Security Council, which needs to be more
representative of the state of the world in 2006. While
this matter should not overshadow the rest of the
reform process, neither can it be indefinitely
06-52737 26
postponed. Progress on this issue needs to be made, for
it would invigorate and give added impetus to the
overall reform process. The Security Council has a
central role to play in maintaining international peace
and security. If it is to function as a truly effective
organ, then it must attain both a stronger capacity and a
greater willingness to act in the face of international
crises and tensions and it must find ways of responding
more rapidly at the outbreak of armed conflicts.
At this sixty-first session of the General
Assembly, we must make every effort to make progress
in adjusting the United Nations to the needs and
challenges of our times. This session will be the last
under the stewardship of Secretary-General Kofi
Annan. During his mandate, Mr. Annan has exhibited
outstanding leadership in setting the agenda and
establishing a clear vision of the goals of the United
Nations. I therefore take this opportunity to thank him
for his tireless dedication to the United Nations and for
framing and initiating the much-needed reform
process. His successor will inherit a vast and complex
agenda which can only be tackled with maximum
cooperation and flexibility from all Member States.
The United Nations requires a Secretary-General
who will be willing to listen to and to respect the views
of all, but who will also have the personal courage to
push for the necessary, but possibly unpopular,
decisions that are needed for the good of the
Organization as a whole. A Secretary-General must be
endowed with leadership, vision, fairness and
objectivity. He or she must be a true citizen of the
world who can feel the pulse of humanity. He or she
must have the passion and commitment to spare no
effort in facing up to the most demanding of
challenges.
Today, the United Nations is at a crossroads and
faces a choice: to address the challenges of the twenty-
first century through the combined efforts of all its
Member States, or to gradually lose its influence in the
international community.
As many here are aware, I recently announced my
decision to submit my candidacy for the position of
Secretary-General. I highly appreciate the confidence
placed in me by the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi
Annan, when he appointed me Special Envoy on
United Nations Reform. I am personally committed to
addressing the challenges posed by United Nations
reform and to promoting human rights, freedom and
democracy, including gender equality. While women
represent half of the world’s population, no woman has
ever been at the helm of this Organization. I believe
that the time has come for a woman to be considered a
serious candidate for the position of Secretary-General.
It so happens that, as a result of historical events
in the twentieth century, no Secretary-General has ever
come from Eastern Europe. Yet that region has a
wealth of experience to share about its ability to effect
radical change and achieve progress in a remarkably
brief period of time.
Nevertheless, the principle of regional rotation
should not be the principal or sole factor in the
selection of a candidate. While I deeply respect the
candidates who have already been nominated from one
part of the world, the selection procedure should not
restrict the rights and opportunities of potential
candidates from any other part of the world. I hope that
the choice made by the Security Council and the
General Assembly will be based solely on the
candidate’s qualifications, personal qualities and
vision.
The world needs a strong United Nations, and we
as leaders need to build bridges of understanding if we
are to make the United Nations as strong as it needs to
be. We need to keep alive the main goal of the founders
of the United Nations, who were determined “to save
succeeding generations from the scourge of war”. We
owe it to our children, who will inherit this planet, to
save them also from the scourges of terrorism, of
hunger and of disease.
Because of my own personal experience as a
child of war and a refugee, having known fear, cold,
loss and hunger in my time, I urge world leaders to
save every child that we can from such experiences.
Our common goal is to extend worldwide the peace,
freedom and prosperity that so many nations have
already achieved. It can be done; it must be done. But
it is something that we can achieve only by all of us
working together.