It is with a special sense of
satisfaction that I wish to congratulate Mr. Ganev on his unanimous election
to the presidency of the General Assembly at its forty-seventh session. His
country, Bulgaria, is a protagonist in an exhilarating democratization and
liberalization process that is transforming a whole region and has already
ushered in a new era in international relations. It is therefore most
appropriate that, as a representative of his country and his region, he should
be presiding over the General Assembly in these momentous and challenging
times.
The exceptional nature of our times is reflected in the fact that over
the last eight months 13 countries have become Members of the United Nations.
We welcome these new Members, many of which are a direct product of the
dramatic developments of the last few years. Their membership constitutes a
further welcome affirmation of the universality of our Organisation.
In January this year a new Secretary-General took over the charge of the
United Nations. His Excellency Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali is a most respected
and long-time friend of Malta. He has brought an impressive dose of energy
and intellectual force to the task of restructuring the United Nations on the
solid foundations left by his predecessor. The international community is
indeed most fortunate in having individuals of such high calibre and
dedication consistently in its service.
Bold and far-sighted leadership is of critical importance at the present
juncture of international relations. Ours is a time when major challenges and
exceptional opportunities compete with each other for attention and action; a
time when hope, rather than fear, colours humanity's vision of its future - a
vision which places the individual at the centre of all activity and which
sees as an ultimate and cherished objective the creation of a just and
prosperous community of nations living in peace and harmony with each other.
Events over the past 12 months have brought home the reality that the
demise of the cold war did not automatically usher in the era of uninterrupted
peace, stability and prosperity to which we are all aspiring. Vast problems
still remain in the political, social and economic spheres, and at the
national, regional and international levels. What is new today is the
possibility for the whole international community to consider these problems
as a shared burden standing in the path of a common vision. We therefore
strive for their resolution on the basis of practical cooperation rather than
seek to exploit them divisively in the framework of ideological confrontation.
At first glance, the emerging world order presents a dark tapestry of
rekindled ethnic and national rivalries, massive economic disparities,
extensive and irreversible environmental degradation, and horrific instances
of human suffering. In the context of what is happening in the former
Yugoslavia, in Somalia, and elsewhere, it may indeed sound ironic to identify
the spirit of cooperation as the touchstone of this new world order.
Yet these unprecedented problems of our times have also generated an
unprecedented determination for cooperative action at both the regional and
the global levels. In cases like Yugoslavia and Somalia, the efforts so far
undertaken have fallen far short of the needs. Yet the international
community persists in its collective endeavour to achieve a peaceful solution
of these problems. In this it finds encouragement in the progress being
achieved elsewhere, especially in Cambodia, in Central America and in Angola.
A few days ago Malta joined a large majority of the United Nations
membership in deciding to deny the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Serbia and
Montenegro its claim to succeed the former Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia, and consequently in calling upon it to reapply for United Nations
membership in conformity with the provisions of the Charter. We did so in the
light of our shared abhorrence of the atrocities that are taking place in the
region of former Yugoslavia.
In the Middle East, the peace process launched in Madrid last year
continues upon its fragile but persistent path. In South Africa, the hopes
for an early and peaceful dismantlement of the policy of apartheid have ebbed
and flowed in recent months in the wake of alternately encouraging and tragic
events. In these instances too, however, the collective determination of the
international community to promote a peaceful and lasting resolution of
long-standing problems, on the basis of principles contained in relevant
United Nations resolutions, is pre-eminent. Equally steadfast is the
collective determination to bring peace and justice to other still-troubled
peoples around the globe, in particular the peoples of Cyprus, of Afghanistan
and of Mozambique.
In the year of the Rio Conference we are perhaps particularly conscious
of the fact that the equitable and sustainable economic and social development
of all peoples is not only a major objective in its own right; it is an
indivisible component of international peace and security. The sharp economic
and social disparities which continue to intensify, both within and among
nations, pose a direct challenge to the hopes for peace and security raised by
the emerging new order in international relations.
There is growing recognition of the fact that an approach to these
problems must be rooted in the notion of global economic interdependence a
notion that must inspire concrete action at the global, as well as at the
regional, level on such questions as international trade, financial flows,
transfer of technology and debt relief. Major projects of regional
cooperation, such as those that are taking place in North America, Western
Europe and South-East Asia should therefore be conceived of as stepping-stones
towards increased trade and economic cooperation at the global level, rather
than as attempts to create a set of monolithic and competing trading blocs in
different parts of the world.
A successful and balanced outcome of the Uruguay Round of multilateral
trade negotiations would go a long way towards providing the necessary
defences against any insidious and harmful fragmentation of world trade.
The disappearance of super-Power confrontation has perhaps had its most
direct and visible impact in the field of disarmament. At the bilateral
level, there have already been significant reductions in the nuclear and
conventional arsenals of the two major Powers. The prospects for an
indefinite extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
and for a comprehensive test-ban treaty are encouraging. At its current
session the General Assembly will be considering a draft convention for a
comprehensive ban on chemical armaments, including their means of delivery,
which has been finalized by the Conference on Disarmament.
Malta welcomes these developments and expresses the hope that they are
the precursors to further cuts in strategic arsenals, especially as regards
weapons of mass destruction, thereby releasing resources to be used for
much-needed development purposes. At the same time, however, we should not
lose sight of other, less rosy, aspects of the disarmament question, that now,
more than before, assume greater relevance in the context of efforts towards
reducing tensions and enhancing international security. This is the case in
particular with regard to regional disarmament.
The proliferation of armaments, conventional or otherwise, at the
regional level is a matter of serious concern. It is a factor that directly
and negatively affects security and stability at both regional and broader
levels. At the same time, it absorbs scarce resources that could otherwise be
utilized for economic and social development.
The European experience, through the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), has been that the progressive reduction of
mutual suspicion through the adoption of confidence- and security-building
measures plays a significant role in creating the necessary conditions for
disarmament at the regional level. Transparency is an important aspect of
confidence-building.
In this context, the setting up by the General Assembly last year of the
Register of Conventional Arms was an important first step, which Malta had
indeed advocated as far back as the late 1960s. It is hoped that this
initiative will be followed up, within the various regions, by determined
efforts towards other concrete measures of confidence building.
The United Nations system is today being called upon to play a
determining role in a vast and bewildering array of problems. Our
Organization was originally conceived in the perspective of global
cooperation, not of super-Power confrontation. After a 45-year gap, it is
only now, with the dawning of an era of cooperation, that it can therefore
begin to operate fully in pursuit of its essential vocation for peace and
understanding among nations. It is essential that we all play our part in
ensuring that it has the necessary resources, and appropriate structures, to
fulfil its tasks.
The original United Nations structures combine the principle of equality
with the pragmatic differentiation of roles and responsibilities arising from
different capabilities and historical circumstances. In the field of peace
and international security, the two complementary poles of the United Nations
system are the General Assembly and the Security Council. A dynamic
relationship between these two organs remains the prerequisite for the
credible and effective functioning of the United Nations in the field of peace
and international security.
Many of the issues related to these matters have been impressively
examined in two reports prepared by the Secretary-General during the course of
this year. The first is the report entitled "An Agenda for Peace". The
second is his first annual report to the General Assembly. These reports
contain a wealth of new ideas and proposals dealing with the evolving role of
the United Nations in preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peace-keeping, and
the promotion of economic and social development. These ideas provide us with
an excellent stimulus to rethink the role that the United Nations can and
needs to play if the end of the cold war is to become the beginning of a
constructive peace.
In his reports, the Secretary-General also pays special attention to
regional cooperation, which is increasingly being seen as a useful, indeed a
necessary, complement to multilateral action at the global level.
Perhaps what is most needed in this regard is that regional and global
actions be better harmonized and made to dovetail into each other. This is
one reason why Malta proposed to the CSCE and the proposal was endorsed at
the Helsinki summit in July that the CSCE be designated as a regional
arrangement under Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter.
Likewise, Malta has been urging for some years that the provisions for
the establishment of technology development centres related to regional seas
envisaged in the Convention on the Law of the Sea be put into effect in such
obvious contexts as the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and the South Pacific.
We have also urged that these functional centres should illustrate the new
concepts of governance that have emerged as most appropriate to the new world
order that is, their governing bodies should include not only
representatives of States, but also non-governmental bodies, whether set up on
a national or on a plurinational basis. Such centres would be geared both to
encouraging the transfer of technology and also, and perhaps more important,
to promoting co-development of new, locally adapted technology.
As a European country, Malta seeks to participate as actively as possible
in the many-faceted and far-reaching initiatives for regional cooperation that
are unfolding on the European continent. Recent developments in our region
have injected new life and vigour into longstanding institutions such as the
Council of Europe and the Economic Commission for Europe, whose pioneering
role in many areas of economic and social development at the regional level
has always been recognized. From the darkest days of the cold war, the CSCE
sought its vocation in the merging of the strict issues of disarmament with
the wider aspects of cooperation in the economic, social and humanitarian
fields. For nearly four decades the European Community has slowly and
painstakingly forged a path towards regional economic and political
integration which, in spite of the present difficulties, represents the best
guarantee for a secure and prosperous future for all the peoples of this
historically troubled continent.
Malta sees in its aspiration to become a full member of the European
Community a natural culmination of its European identity and of the role it
has played over the years in promoting European cooperation, within the
Council of Europe, the Economic Commission for Europe and the CSCE. For us,
membership of the European Community is an overriding political objective
founded upon the conviction that such membership offers us the best prospects
for political, economic and social development while permitting us to play our
rightful role in a unique experiment for regional integration.
Our geographical location in the centre of the Mediterranean has also
made us conscious of the issues which were so effectively highlighted at this
year's United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, notably the
awareness of the fragility of our planet Earth and the intimate relationship
that exists between human development and ecological stability. The General
Assembly at this session has an important task in following up the decisions
taken at Rio, with regard both to the implementation of the proposals and
recommendations contained in Agenda 21 and also to the establishment of the
new commission for sustainable development.
In this context, Malta shares the view that, in the endeavour to
restructure and adapt the United Nations system better to deal with the issues
of the new world order, a revitalized role could be found for the Trusteeship
Council as a guardian of the common heritage of future generations, to replace
its fast disappearing role as trustee of dependent Territories.
Over the 28 years of its United Nations membership, Malta has taken
particular pride in identifying its commitment to multilateralism, especially
through its many initiatives on issues related to the environment as it
constitutes a common concern of mankind. It is worth noting that this year
marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Malta's proposal to the General Assembly
that the seabed and ocean floor be reserved exclusively in the interests of
mankind. Also this year we have been gratified to see our latest initiative,
related to the protection of climate for present and future generations,
resulting in the signing of the Framework Convention on Climate Change by over
150 nations. We earnestly hope that the ratification of the Convention will
proceed quickly to ensure its early coming into force.
The basic starting-point and the goal of our activities is the well-being
of the individual in society. The importance of the human dimension in all
our endeavours should not and cannot be underestimated. It is in this context
that Malta attaches fundamental importance to issues of human rights. Over
the years, the United Nations has elaborated major instruments relating to
human rights, starting with the Universal Declaration and leading up to the
Covenants on civil and political, economic, social and cultural rights, and
the Convention against torture, to all of which Malta is a party.
Collective action aimed at ensuring the effective protection of the
rights enshrined in these documents should not, in our view, be unduly
constrained by arguments over issues of national sovereignty. We believe that
the Commission on Human Rights and other relevant bodies should have their
mandates enlarged beyond their present monitoring role along the lines of the
relevant institutions within the Council of Europe. We look forward to the
United Nations Conference on Human Rights due to be held in Vienna next year,
in the hope that effective and bold steps will be taken in the endeavour
further to safeguard and guarantee the fullest possible enjoyment of human
rights at the individual level throughout the world.
This year the General Assembly will be holding special commemorations on
the conclusion of the Decade for Disabled Persons and on the tenth anniversary
of the adoption of the International Action Plan for the Elderly. Over the
years, Malta has taken an active role on the question of the elderly and the
aged, a subject which it first brought to the attention of the General
Assembly in the late 1960s. Today Malta hosts an International Institute on
Aging that plays a leading role in the promotion of new ideas and training in
the field of ageing.
1995, the year marking the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations,
will be devoted to two important conferences relating to social development
the World Summit on Social Development and the Fourth World Conference on
Women. We welcome these, together with the 1994 International Conference on
Population and Development, as a further indication of the growing commitment
of our Organization to the importance of the human dimension in international
cooperation a commitment which has been reinforced by the recent creation of
the Office of Humanitarian Affairs within the Secretariat and which, as our
Secretary-General so eloquently states in his report to the General Assembly,
is renewed daily through the quiet heroism of the many individuals working in
the field under the aegis of the United Nations throughout the globe.
In spite of the many difficulties and recognized weaknesses, we all
acknowledge how fortunate our generation is in its possession of such a global
organization as the United Nations, founded upon a Charter which encapsulates
the highest and most lasting ideals of humankind. It is my privilege to take
this opportunity to rededicate the commitment of the Government and people of
Malta to the United Nations.