New Zealand remains
unwavering in its support for the United Nations. Our
commitment has not changed since we helped found
the Organization 61 years ago. This year’s events have
only reinforced our belief that the world would be
substantially worse off without the United Nations.
It would be remiss of me at this time not to pay
tribute to Kofi Annan. It is to his vision, determination
and courage that we must attribute many of the reforms
achieved thus far. Five years ago, when he was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Committee
paid tribute to his efforts on reform. Since then he has
continued to work tirelessly for a United Nations that
can live up to the hopes that “we the peoples” have
invested in it. This is all the more remarkable given
that, for much of his stewardship, the United Nations
has been confronted with some of the most difficult
international crises of its existence.
New Zealand is committed to multilateralism.
This is not some act of faith, but a commitment to a
multilateralism that really delivers. We need to be
prepared to work diligently for the good of the global
community.
The United Nations is passing through a period of
challenge to its relevance and effectiveness. It has
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confronted serious political and security shocks —
fresh hostilities in the Middle East, the tragic and
worsening situation in Darfur, and, in our own region,
instability in Timor-Leste.
Last year, world leaders agreed to an ambitious
reform agenda based on the three pillars of peace and
security, development and human rights. Progress has
been made, but this is no time to rest. We must press
on, for much remains to be done.
The challenge of development has never been
higher on the international agenda. Never before has
the commitment to eradicating poverty been so critical.
But increasing aid levels will not be enough; we must
become more effective. We need to make sure that
every dollar we spend makes a positive difference.
That means addressing the key threats to our
success — poor governance, corruption and gender
inequality. We need to secure fairer international
trading relationships, and we must work on all of those
together.
The theme of this year’s general debate is the
implementation of a global partnership for
development. For New Zealand, collective action is
imperative. We need participation, ownership and
responsibility from recipient countries. We seek
harmonization with larger contributors to align and
combine our contributions. We seek partnership with
multilateral development agencies in our campaign to
eradicate poverty, and we endorse the efforts of the
United Nations and those agencies to coordinate better,
country by country.
New Zealand, as members are aware, has a
relationship with the Pacific that is based on history,
culture and economic and social linkages. Our bonds
with Pacific States are an important dimension of our
other relationships. We want nothing less than
educated, healthy, well-governed, economically
prosperous and safe communities.
In the Auckland Declaration of 2004, Pacific
leaders committed themselves to a “region that is
respected for the quality of its governance, the
sustainable management of its resources, the full
observance of democratic values and for its defence
and promotion of human rights”. These are ambitious
goals, and translating them into reality means hard
work by all Pacific countries. That is a challenge that
New Zealand accepts.
In facing that challenge, we confront economic,
environmental, governance, development and security
issues. Markets are distant. Climate change is a reality.
Political instability does not help. Threats from
communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and
pandemic influenza must be managed.
The Pacific accounts for almost one quarter of the
surface of the world — an area bigger than Europe and
the Middle East combined. Its strategic significance
presents opportunity and challenge. New Zealand is
determined to seek out the benefits of that significance
and guard against the threats, among which I include,
sadly, cheque-book diplomacy.
Across the Pacific, we have learned that regional
problems require regional solutions. Last year, Pacific
Island Forum leaders adopted the Pacific Plan for
regional cooperation. Through that plan we will
strengthen regional cooperation where it can most
make a difference, and we will use it to promote the
four goals of the Pacific Islands Forum: sustainable
development, economic growth, security and good
governance.
At the same time, we do not forget that our
regional endeavours depend on strong international
frameworks. The Framework Convention on Climate
Change is an essential example. Another example is the
United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement on the
conservation and management of straddling and highly
migratory fish stocks.
We are proud of our achievements in regional
fisheries management. The Western and Central Pacific
Fisheries Commission, with its headquarters in
Pohnpei, manages the region’s migratory fish species.
We are in the midst of developing new regional
arrangements for non-migratory fish stocks.
These mechanisms are central to the region’s
ability to ensure the sustainable management of its
most important natural resources. They are at the
leading edge in establishing best-practice management
norms.
There have been profound political and security
shocks over the past year — in the Middle East and in
Darfur, as well as instability in Timor-Leste — those
and more are testing the United Nations system.
It is a sad reality that the situation in the Middle
East has been on the agenda of the United Nations for
60 years, ever since its inception. The lack of sustained
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political will to see through more than a handful of
decisions on the Middle East has undermined
confidence. It has contributed to an unstable
environment where extremism, injustice and despair
flourish.
These issues must be tackled with a new resolve,
using the international multilateral system as a tool for
peace and progress. The international response to the
Security Council’s call for an expanded United Nations
Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) shows that the
international community can react to conflict and
provide basic stabilization. But such responses are
doomed to failure unless the underlying political and
security issues are addressed. It is therefore imperative
to relaunch the Middle East peace process covering all
issues, on the basis of the relevant Security Council
resolutions.
The Organization’s efforts to introduce a United
Nations force into Darfur is being cynically thwarted
by the Government of the Sudan. That is simply
unconscionable. The Government of the Sudan must, in
the name of basic humanity, accept the need for a
United Nations force as the best chance for the security
of the people of Darfur.
New and fragile States face enormous challenges.
Recent unrest in Timor-Leste demonstrates that fact.
New Zealand responded quickly to Timor-Leste’s
needs with a military and police contribution to help
restore stability. The regional response has been swift
and robust. The United Nations played an important
role in facilitating Timor-Leste’s independence, and it
is clear the United Nations will continue to be involved
in Timor-Leste for many years to come. The
deployment of a substantial United Nations police
force is vital if peace and stability is to be maintained
even in the medium term. The nature of the expanded
United Nations mission in Timor-Leste reflects the
deep and broad engagement required to build a lasting
peace. Timor-Leste encapsulates the principle that
peace and security cannot be separated from economic
development, social reconciliation and the protection
of basic human rights. The Security Council’s mandate
for Timor-Leste endorses that truth.
New Zealand fully supported the renewed focus
on human rights at last year’s World Summit. We
strongly campaigned for the new Human Rights
Council, and we worked hard to bring it into being. We
have high ambitions for it and will follow its activities
closely. It must remain strong, focused and effective. It
must be able to deal swiftly with emerging situations of
human rights concern, in a balanced way, with
scrupulous attention to verifiable facts. It must be
aspirational, inspirational and practical. Its working
methods must be transparent and inclusive. Above all,
there must be genuine political will to make it work.
A few weeks ago, encouraged all the way by
energetic non-governmental organizations, Member
States agreed on the first new comprehensive human
rights instrument of the twenty-first century: a draft
convention relating to persons with disabilities. We are
proud in New Zealand of the role we played in those
negotiations on the text. The draft convention stands to
make a real difference to the lives of approximately
650 million of the world’s most disadvantaged citizens.
New Zealand is also conscious of the
disadvantages faced by indigenous peoples in many
parts of the world. We were closely engaged in the
lengthy negotiations towards a declaration on the rights
of indigenous peoples. We had hoped that the
declaration would be a new standard of achievement
for Governments that could be implemented to really
improve the lives of indigenous peoples. Therefore, we
are disappointed that that was not to be so. The draft
declaration that emerged with less than conclusive
support from the Human Rights Council is deeply
flawed and represents a lost opportunity for the world’s
indigenous peoples.
At the beginning of his term, the Secretary-
General set an important goal for the United Nations:
to perfect “the triangle of development, freedom and
peace” (A/51/PV.88, p. 13). The Secretary-General’s
words still ring true today. We have travelled only part
of the journey towards that goal. Considering our
achievements over the past year, we can be satisfied
with progress made in setting up the Human Rights
Council and the Peacebuilding Commission. The
challenge now is to make those two new bodies truly
effective. The welcome adoption of the United Nations
Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (resolution 60/288)
reminds us of the efforts we must continue to make at
regional and national levels.
New Zealand wants to see continuing reform high
on the list of priorities for the sixty-first session in
order to ensure that the United Nations can be as
responsive as possible to the needs of Member States,
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and efficient in getting the best from the resources
available to it.
Sixty years ago, New Zealand had high hopes for
the United Nations. In 2006, we still do. New Zealand
is a country that engages with the United Nations with
no hidden agenda. What we say is what we mean. We
engage with no other or hidden agenda. But those that
do so pervert and weaken this Organization.
In 2006, at this meeting, New Zealand declares
that we will continue to put our efforts behind the
principles and policies that will make the United
Nations strong.