First of all, I wish to
congratulate Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa on her
election as President of the General Assembly at its
sixty-first session. We are convinced that her vast
experience in international relations and able
leadership will lead this session to a successful
conclusion.
I would also like to pay tribute to her
predecessor, Mr. Jan Eliasson, who led the last session
of the General Assembly most ably and successfully.
I would also like to take this opportunity to
express our deep appreciation to Secretary-General
Kofi Annan, whose stewardship of this Organization
over the past 10 years has brought many positive and
remarkable changes to the world body. His tireless and
dedicated service to the international community will
be indelibly etched in our collective memory.
The reform of the United Nations to meet the new
challenges of our times is an ongoing process that
needs to be assessed continuously. While we have
achieved tangible progress in some areas, such as the
establishment of the Human Rights Council and the
Peacebuilding Commission, progress has yet to be
made in other areas. The success of the reform of the
United Nations must be judged in terms of its effective
response to the contemporary needs of Member States,
in particular those of the developing countries, which
form the majority of the membership. While many
States, including the developing countries, struggle to
protect and advance the principles and practices of
multilateralism, the tendency towards unilateralism
remains strong. That unhealthy tendency can in no way
gain ascendancy if the United Nations is to remain
viable.
Attempts by some strong and powerful States to
impose their will on developing countries in pursuit of
their political agenda create an environment of hostility
in the international community. To our dismay and
frustration, there has been glaring abuse of the mandate
06-53615 10
entrusted to the Security Council by Member States by
unjustly placing the situation of my country on the
agenda of the Security Council and by alleging that it
poses a threat to regional peace and security. Nothing
could be further from the truth. Myanmar has done
nothing that can undermine the peace and security of
any country, let alone regional or international peace
and security. Myanmar has close and cordial relations
with all its five neighbours and other countries in the
region.
The founders of the United Nations did not intend
the world body to become a forum in which some
Members with political and economic clout could gang
up against a Member State and label it as what it is not.
We therefore urge all Member States to resist attempts
by those powerful States to influence the Security
Council to take action against a Member State that in
no way poses any threat to international peace and
security.
Regarding Security Council reform, Myanmar is
in favour of the expansion of the Security Council in
both the permanent and non-permanent categories. The
expanded Security Council must also reflect today’s
political and economic realities. However, the fact that
we have not made substantial progress on the
expansion of the Council demonstrates the sensitive
and complex nature of the issue. It is extremely
important that this issue not become divisive among
the United Nations membership. Dialogue and
consultations must continue to seek a solution
acceptable to the overwhelming majority of the
membership.
It is encouraging that the first session of the
Human Rights Council was successfully held in
Geneva in June and that the Council is now working in
full swing to quickly become an effectively functioning
human rights body. Myanmar’s active participation at
the highest level in that session is a reflection of our
commitment to further strengthening the United
Nations human rights machinery.
It is, however, important that the principle of
impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity be
scrupulously observed in the work of the Council.
Although we want the Council to become an effective
tool in the strengthening of the United Nations human
rights machinery, we are not giving it carte blanche. It
is through the observation of the aforementioned
principles — through dialogue, cooperation and non-
politicization of human rights issues — that the
Council is to function. It is incumbent not only on the
members of the Council, but also on all of us, to ensure
that the Council does not deviate from the direction in
which we expect it to head.
Terrorism continues to defy the attempts of the
international community to eliminate it, raising its ugly
head again in Mumbai and elsewhere very recently. We
are of the view that it is only through the involvement
of every community of people that we can be
forewarned in time of the impending onslaught of
terrorist acts. Myanmar fully supports the international
efforts to eliminate terrorism.
A daunting challenge facing the international
community is the horrendous crime of human
trafficking, which the Secretary-General aptly refers to
as one of the most reprehensible violations of human
rights. Despite the efforts of the international
community to tackle that issue over the past decade, it
continues to grow, with serious national and
international implications for the Governments
concerned. Human trafficking is a serious international
issue and we believe that it requires a coordinated and
cooperative response by the entire international
community to address the issue.
Myanmar is a State party to the United Nations
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and
its supplementary Protocols to Prevent, Suppress and
Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and
Children and against the Smuggling of Migrants by
Land, Sea and Air. I would like to stress that Myanmar
regards combating trafficking in persons as a national
task. We are making relentless efforts in that regard.
Myanmar has designated HIV/AIDS, malaria and
tuberculosis as diseases of national concern. In 1989,
we set up a high-level multisectoral national AIDS
committee. We have been cooperating with the United
Nations and, in 2001, our national AIDS programme
and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS) drew up a joint programme of action
covering education, prevention, cure and rehabilitation
to effectively address the challenge. As a result, we
have been able not only to level the HIV/AIDS
infection rate, but to reduce it. We are also serving on
the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, enabling
us to address the issue at both the national and
international levels.
11 06-53615
Narcotic drugs continue to be one of the threats
facing us today. As the Government of Myanmar
regards the eradication of narcotic drugs as a national
responsibility, it has striven relentlessly to eradicate
such drugs by 2014. Our determined efforts on all
fronts have resulted in a substantial decrease in opium
production. I would like to reiterate here that Myanmar
will step up its efforts, in close cooperation with
friendly countries and international organizations, until
we achieve our goal.
Cooperation with the United Nations is a
cornerstone of Myanmar’s foreign policy. Our track
record has proven that Myanmar has invariably
extended its cooperation to the United Nations.
Myanmar has been implementing a national
development plan with the aim of accelerating growth,
achieving equitable and balanced development, and
reducing the socio-economic development gap between
rural and urban areas of the country. The national
development plan addresses the major aspects of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We have
made significant progress towards achieving the MDGs
by 2015, particularly in such areas as health, education,
sustainable access to safe drinking water, and access to
improved sanitation. In implementing the MDGs, we
are primarily relying on our national resources. In that
regard, we are also receiving valuable assistance and
cooperation from the United Nations agencies
concerned.
Finally, I wish to apprise the Assembly of the
political developments in my country. We have been
steadfastly implementing the seven-step road map for
transition to democracy, announced in August 2003.
The National Convention, which was adjourned on
31 January 2006, will resume its session on 10 October
and continue to discuss the basic principles for the
drafting of an enduring constitution. I wish to stress
that the process of transforming the country into a
democratic State will move ahead systematically in
accordance with the road map.
Before concluding, I would like to reaffirm our
commitment to working together in upholding the
principles enunciated in the Charter of the United
Nations and in strengthening the role of the United
Nations to respond to the challenges of the twenty-first
century.