1. Madam President, my delegation
congratulates you wholeheartedly on your election to
the high office of President of the General Assembly. We
see in this a recognition both of your high personal
qualifications and of the contribution and positive role of
your country in the United Nations. It is also a tribute to
Africa, to all the new countries of your great continent, and
to the important role which women are playing and will
play in our common effort to build a better world for our
children.
2. The United Nations is today faced with great problems.
The United Nations is always faced with great problems,
and yet in most cases there are very limited possibilities,
and sometimes none at all, to find solutions to these
problems. There are military conflicts in many places and
there is danger of the outbreak of armed clashes in still
others. The purpose of the United Nations is, according to
the Charter, first of all to bring about adjustments or
settlements of international disputes, and in particular to
suppress acts. of aggression and remove threats to the peace.
3. But what possibilities are open to the United Nations to
work for that purpose and to attain it? The Charter says
this should be done by peaceful means in the first instance
and without the use of armed force. But what has
experience shown the result to be? Resolutions are
introduced here and recommendations are approved, even
with an overwhelming majority of all the Members, but a
party or the parties to the dispute completely disregard the
recommendations, whereupon the efforts of the United
Nations are finished, the matter remains at issue and we are
back where we started. There-are numerous and flagrant
examples of this process.
4. Admittedly, it is not possible to expect the United
Nations to settle disputes to which the great Powers are
parties, directly or indirectly, but there are many other
situations which have arisen and which in normal circumstances
should lend themselves to a solution. The usual
method is to apply sanctions against the party which
disregards United Nations recommendations, but in most
cases—I would almost say always—the result is that these
measures become ineffective.
5. The United Nations has also established peace-observer
units for the purpose of ensuring compliance with recommendations
of the General Assembly and the Security
Council. These observers have certainly achieved some
success in their work, but, regretfully, it has been all too
small a success. These peace-keeping forces have not been
numerous enough and their authority has been too limited.
They have also been in financial straits and there is no
agreement as to how to defray their costs. I have recently
seen remarks attributed to a distinguished personage to the
effect that it is tragicomic that a world which can afford to
maintain, in all, 20 million men under arms at a yearly cost
of $120,000 million cannot afford to maintain a peace-keeping
force of 20,000 men under the United Nations, at a
cost of approximately $120 million—which represents,
proportionally, one per thousand of the current military
expenditures. On an earlier occasion I had the opportunity
to describe from this rostrum the sad experience of those
who are expected to take measures or undertake actions
but have no executive power [1579th meeting]. And the
United Nations is no exception; the United Nations has to
have the executive power to implement its recommendations—a
strong police and peace-keeping force.
6. Let us not confuse this train of thought with the war in.
Viet-Nam. That conflict will, of course, not be settled until
the great Powers that are parties to it, directly or indirectly,
come to an agreement among themselves. And generally
speaking, I would like to echo the remarks of the
Secretary-General, U Thant, when he said recently in a
speech that the great Powers do not strongly enough
support the all too feeble measures taken by the United
Nations to strengthen universal peace. The noble purposes
of the United Nations to promote peace will, of course,
never be achieved if they do not enjoy the whole-hearted
and undivided support of the great Powers, to the’ exclusion
of any extraneous interests.
7. The clashes between Israel and the Arab States seem to
become sharper and more serious every day and, consequently,
all the indications are that war may again break
out soon. Without doubt it is considered possible for peace
to be maintained in the Middle East provided the great
Powers whole-heartedly support the measures of the United
Nations to prevent the outbreak of hostilities, which, it
seems, once started could have unpredictable consequences.
But it is also clear, as the situation is today, that the tiny
United Nations forces in the area are altogether powerless.
8. It is possible to mention other examples where the
hostilities are not, however, hostilities between States but
rather civil war between divided nationalities or different
tribes. In such cases the United Nations is in a difficult
position to intervene. The most obvious example of this
nature is the war in Nigeria, where the smaller party to the
conflict is being starved, to boot. The starvation affects the
public in general, both children and adults, and they are
dying, reportedly, by hundreds and by thousands from
malnutrition and privation. And people who are quite
willing to provide aid are being prevented from carrying out
their freely offered assistance.
9. The same applies to the Kurds, although in a different
way, and it is a sad thing to affirm that no one can
intervene effectively on behalf of the oppressed. According
to the Charter, the United Nations is not supposed to
intervene in so-called internal affairs; but it should be made
possible for the United Nations to give effective assistance
to such minorities or to open up avenues to enable nations
that want to give assistance on humanitarian grounds to
provide such assistance. But the most poignant and painful
thing is when a small, or. relatively small, minority
suppresses a great majority and allows the majority not
even the barest minimum of human rights. It is saddening
that that is the case in many places. Nothing human should
be outside the interest of the United Nations. Nihil
humanum a me alienum est was once said, ages ago,
although in a different context, but it should certainly be
one of the principles underlying the activities of the United
Nations.
10. The Government and people of Iceland have viewed
with concern the recent disturbances in the northern part
of Ireland, a neighbouring country for whose people we
have deep feelings of sympathy. Although Icelanders are
primarily of Nordic stock, there runs a good portion of
Irish blood in our veins. We wish to assure our friends the
people of Ireland that we well understand their concern for
the plight of a frustrated minority whose grievances have
not been fully redressed. We share their concern at the
communal tensions that have been created and at the
outbreaks of violence that have resulted in loss of life and
property.
11. However, my Government remains in doubt whether it
would serve the best interests of the people concerned to
inscribe this matter on the agenda of the General Assembly.
A public debate sometimes results in inflamed tempers and
increased tension in the area concerned. Moreover, it has
been called into question whether this matter falls within
the competence of the United Nations, in view of Article 2,
paragraph 7 of the Charter. Without expressing an opinion
on that point, I note that the Foreign Minister of Ireland
has already had the opportunity to explain the situation
and the point of view of his Government before the
Security Council [1503rd meeting]. We think that was
useful. The same opportunity is open to him here in the
general debate of the General Assembly. My Government
hopes that the fact that the attention of the United Nations
has thus been focused on the situation in Northern Ireland
may result in speedy efforts by all parties concerned
towards an improvement of the situation and a solution of
the problem.
12. The United Nations has been especially successful in
the humanitarian field. To bring this out clearly it is only
necessary to mention a few of the agencies of the United
Nations, I mention only the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees, the United Nations Children’s
Fund, the World Health Organization, and the Food and
Agriculture Organization, but there are many more that
come to mind. In all these fields, under the direction of the
United Nations, enormous and successful work has been
done, and it would certainly be desirable for such success to
be attained in other fields as well. Even if the main purpose
of the United Nations is to prevent acts of aggression and to
strengthen the peace, one should not underestimate the
other activities of the Organization in the humanitarian
fields, where the greatest successes have been obtained.
13. Next year, twenty-five years will have passed since the
United Nations was created. Without any doubt that
anniversary will be commemorated all around the world. So
many hopes were raised in the beginning, when the United
Nations was established, and so many States have joined
this Organization during the last quarter of a century. On
that occasion the activities of the United Nations will be
reviewed—the successes and the failures as well. The United
Nations will never be anything more than the Members
want it to be. It is therefore necessary to cultivate among
nations the correct attitude of mind in accordance with the
principles of the Charter of the United Nations to ensure
that all nations support resolutions of the United Nations
and that they will be implemented.
14. There are, of course differing opinions on how to
attain that goal. But in the opinion of my people one
possible way towards that goal would be to strengthen the
distribution of information about the United Nations. We,
Icelanders, consider that that could possibly be done by
devoting to the United Nations one class-hour of every
month of the school year in all schools, from the
elementary to the university level, in all countries. There
would be lectures, carefully prepared in accordance with
the intellectual stage of the student, on the background of
the United Nations, on the establishment and activities of
the United Nations, on their strength and their shortcomings,
on why they have not fulfilled the tasks enunciated
in the Charter—and on the best means to attain the
purposes of the Charter. Of course, the stress would be on
the primary purpose: the maintenance of peace and the
prevention of acts of aggression.
15. However, the other activities of the United Nations
should also be stressed in the economic and social fields, in
the humanitarian and cultural fields, in questions of human
rights and the elimination of discrimination as well as in
other international problems. If we can educate children
from their early years in those matters, we shall be able to
expect that in coming years the attitude towards the United
Nations will change with an improved opinion of it being
formed in the world. There is, of course, some doubt
whether we shall be able to succeed in this and whether the
expected effects will follow, but maybe, along with other
efforts, it will have some influence to bear. The Government
of Iceland has already discussed this idea of devoting
one class-hour per month to the United Nations and it will
possibly begin the experiment next year in Icelandic
schools in connexion with the twenty-fifth anniversary of
the United Nations.
16. When we talk about the United Nations and the youth
of this world, my Government finds considerable merit in
the proposal, debated in the Economic and Social Council
in August 1969, that the United Nations should establish a
volunteer corps, similar to the Peace Corps, to help
developing countries. Such a venture would certainly
provide an opportunity for young people to contribute
personally in carrying out the worthy aims and aspirations
of the United Nations. In a world of youthful unrest this
might prove a sensible undertaking.
17. One very important task of the United Nations, which
concerns all nations, is to prevent pollution of the human
environment. This matter was discussed at the last session
of the General Assembly and it will be discussed again
during this session. I should like to mention only one point.
The peaceful uses of the sea-bed is now being discussed by
the forty-two-member Committee on the Peaceful Uses of
the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor Beyond the Limits of
National Jurisdiction, which is submitting its report to the
General Assembly. The use of the sea-bed for peaceful
purposes means probably first of all the exploitation of oil
resources, But there is always the risk that the oil which is
being exploited will, because of some mishap or other
unforeseen cause, flow into the oceans and thereby
constitute grave dangers for fish and other organic resources
in the surrounding sea area. It is therefore very important
that such accidents be prevented and to ensure that all
possible safeguard measures are taken. The stock of fish in
the North Atlantic seems to be diminishing and one aspect
of that problem is the pollution of the sea, even if there are
also other causes at work with greater effect.
18. The Government of Iceland has been keenly interested
in the issue of the peaceful uses of the sea-bed and the
ocean floor beyond the limits of national jurisdiction from
the very beginning when the issue was first introduced in
this Assembly. My Government realizes the necessity of
adopting internationally recognized rules for this vast area,
the last unexplored part of our globe. While the human race
has embarked upon adventurous journeys into outer space,
it is time to put our house in order and decide upon an
effective and just régime for the sub-oceanic areas, whose
resources must be harvested for the benefit of all mankind.
19. Iceland is one of the forty-two members of the sea-bed
Committee which was established by the last General
Assembly. There Iceland has urged the participating nations
to strive for the adoption of certain fundamental general
principles, which might then be adopted by the General
Assembly in a declaration on the peaceful uses of the
sea-bed, a procedure similar to that followed by the
Assembly on the question concerning the peaceful uses of
outer space.
20. The Assembly will soon have before it the latest report
of the sea-bed Committee. The Assembly will notice from
that report that, while a consensus emerged on certain
general principles, the Committee was not ready to recommend
a list of principles for adoption by the Assembly at
this early stage in its deliberations. That is understandable,
and my Government continues to have faith in the ability
of the Committee to bring its important task to a fruitful
conclusion. But at this stage my Government would like to
enumerate a few of the most important items on which it
feels that an international agreement must be reached at an
early date. They are the following:
(1) There is an area of the sea-bed and ocean floor which
lies beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.
(2) No State may claim or exercise sovereign rights over
that area.
(3) That area, as it will be later defined, shall be reserved
exclusively for peaceful purposes.
(4) An international régime shall be established for the
area.
(5) The exploration and exploitation of the area shall be
conducted in accordance with international law, including
the Charter of the United Nations.
(6) Use of the area shall be for the benefit of all
mankind, with special regard for the needs and interests of
the developing countries and international community
purposes.
(7) Pollution of the marine environment must be prevented,
and obligations and liabilities of States established
in this respect.
21. The Government of Iceland feels that these seven
general rules make up a firm basis for a future régime of the
sea-bed and ocean floor, and I should like to refer them to
the First Committee, which is to deal with this item, as a
compromise proposal for further discussion.
22. The General Assembly at the twenty-third session
unanimously adopted a resolution [2467 B (XXIII)] introduced
by Iceland and co-sponsored by a number of nations,
which called for a study by the Secretary-General aimed at
preventing pollution of the oceans which might adversely
affect their living resources. It should come as no surprise
that my Government is intensely interested in this topic, as
fishing has for many years been the chief means of
livelihood of the Icelandic people. My Government was
gratified to note the wide support for that resolution in the
United Nations. One of the most urgent tasks within the
whole environment issue is to draw up an effective
international instrument for the prevention of pollution of
the oceans, from whatever causes pollution may arise. Such
a treaty does not exist today, but it is high time that one
was concluded, as recent incidents in ocean exploitation
have demonstrated. This topic should, therefore, be given
high priority by the sea-bed Committee, as well as by the
Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization
and the international scientific bodies concerned with the
problem of pollution so that a draft treaty on marine
pollution can at an early date be elaborated and agreed
upon.
23. I come now to another aspect of the marine environment
which is of immediate concern to my Government.
This is the question of the regulation and protection of the
living resources of the sea, with special regard to the needs
and interests of coastal States whose economy is dependent
upon fisheries. At the twenty-third session of the General
Assembly, the delegation of Iceland, together with other
delegations, introduced a draft resolution on the “Exploitation
and conservation of living marine resources”, which
was unanimously adopted by the Assembly [resolution for
2413 (XXIII)]. By that resolution, Governments were
urged to increase their co-operation in the development and
exploitation of living marine resources, and United Nations
agencies were asked to improve international collaboration
to that end. Under the terms of the resolution, the
Secretary-General will report upon those issues to the
twenty-fifth session of the General Assembly, next year.
24. Those are important steps on the way to more
effective protection and management of the immeasurably
valuable food resources found in the sea. However, my
Government is convinced that further action is called for in
order to ensure for the coastal state a just and equitable
share of the resources found in its coastal waters.
25. If one reviews the situation in some of the world’s
most important fisheries, one is faced by a gloomy picture.
I shall not elaborate upon the gradual extermination of the
world’s whale stocks, which is indicative of how disastrous
the evolution in the world’s fisheries can be if rational
management is not heeded. Still more important is the
situation in the fisheries of the North Atlantic. Recent
information has shown that the increased fishing effort
there has had an adverse effect on the fish stocks, some of
which are now already being over-exploited. The reduction
in the number of fisheries in some North Atlantic areas is so
severs indeed that definite plans for rationing the resources
under a strict quota system are now being proposed.
26. This is an ominous development for all nations like my
own, whose existence is based chiefly upon the sea
fisheries. When faced with the prospect of the severe
rationing of marine resources, nations which practically live
from the sea can consider it only equitable that they be
granted special rights to the fisheries located outside their
present national jurisdictions in order that they may escape
economic ruin. The nations I am talking about here are very
few in number, and granting them special rights in this
respect Would in no way threaten world community
interest in the freedom of fishing.
27. At present, the 1958 Geneva Convention on Fishing of
and Conservation of the Living Resources of the High Seas
does not grant any State such special rights outside national
fisheries jurisdiction. But eleven years ago the situation of
the world’s fisheries was different. To many of the
participants in the Geneva Conference there did not then
seem to be any need for special rights for the coastal State
in this respect. But, as I have explained, the situation is now
radically altered.
28. Therefore, my Government deems it imperative that
the international community should formulate under the
auspices of the United Nations, such rules as will make
certain that those nations whose economies are heavily
dependent upon fishing will be enabled to utilize the
fisheries of their coastal zone as their situations may
require. In our view, such a commitment would be only a
reiteration of the fact that all nations, large and small, have
a tight to a decent economic existence, which is indeed one
of the corner-stones of the economic policy of the United
Nations. Next year, when the “Resources of the Sea” will
be on the agenda of the General Assembly, we hope to
come back to this very important issue with definite plans
for action by the United Nations.