Austria

We are glad to see the General Assembly, the key organ in the reform process of the Organization, meet under a President who combines profound knowledge of the United Nations with a reputation for strong leadership. My colleague from Ireland has already outlined the positions of the European Union, which we fully endorse. I will elaborate on a few points to which Austria attaches particular importance. When discussing the need for reform a year ago, Heads of State and Government expressed their political will to give the twenty-first century a United Nations equipped, financed and structured to serve effectively the peoples in whose name it was established. However, insufficient progress has been made so far in implementing this commitment. While the Secretary-General, to whose spirited leadership of the Organization I should like to pay a warm personal tribute, has undertaken a number of important reform initiatives, the Working Groups of the General Assembly have made only limited progress. Much more needs to be done. And we must always bear in mind that reform is not mere downsizing, but pursuing our goals effectively and efficiently. Four principles should, in our view, guide our reform agenda. As the first priority and as a precondition for reform, we must fulfil our financial obligations in accordance with the United Nations Charter; we must give clear mandates and provide the necessary resources; we must ensure the competitiveness of the United Nations system; and we must eliminate duplication, waste and mismanagement. We should like to see strong United Nations leadership in the following areas. As regards human rights, the results of the World Conference on Human Rights form an integral part of the coordinated follow-up to recent United Nations conferences. Austria will play an active role in preparations for the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the five-year review of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action in 1998. Today, our main task is not to elaborate new international standards in the field of human rights but to ensure full respect for the broad body of existing norms and rules in all parts of the world. This requires the active involvement of the entire United Nations system. This includes United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) projects on governance; the United Nations Children’s Fund’s efforts in the field of juvenile justice; programmes of the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch of the Secretariat for the strengthening of criminal justice systems; and the integration of human rights elements into United Nations field missions. In the run-up to 1998, system-wide cooperation and integration in the field of human rights have to be improved. Austria pays particular attention to the promotion and protection of minorities as a means both to prevent and to resolve conflicts. Respecting the rights of minorities is crucial for peaceful development and good neighbourly relations. The case of South Tyrol is an excellent example. Half a century after the conclusion of the 1946 Treaty of Paris between Austria and Italy — of fundamental importance for the survival of the Austrian minority — the South Tyroleans enjoy the protection of a carefully regulated autonomy, which increasingly serves as an inspiration in comparable situations elsewhere. Turning next to drug control and organized crime, it is estimated that drug sales generate more than $120 billion annually, thus exceeding the gross domestic product of many United Nations Member States. This economic power of drug traffickers is a serious threat to the stability and the democratic and legal institutions of many countries. Drug abuse also has severe social consequences for societies and individuals. Therefore, drug control must remain a top priority for the United Nations. Austria will welcome the holding of a special session of the General Assembly in 1998 devoted to this question. In order to make that session a success, we should soon start our preparations at the national, regional and international levels. Trafficking in illicit drugs goes hand in hand with transnational organized crime and money laundering, which can be fought only through intensified international cooperation. In this regard, we encourage closer cooperation between the United Nations International 8 Drug Control Programme and the Secretariat’s crime Division. I turn now to fight against the sexual exploitation of children. A phenomenon closely linked to organized crime is the sexual exploitation of children; this contemporary form of slavery can result in serious, life-long, even life- threatening consequences for the physical, psychological and social development of children. The rights of children and women being at the very heart of our concern, we would like in this respect to reiterate the importance we attach to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action as well as to the recommendations of the recent Stockholm World Congress on Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. We are convinced that only a global partnership uniting Governments, non-governmental organizations and relevant United Nations agencies can bring an end to the trafficking and exploitation of children and women for sexual purposes. Peace-keeping remains the international community's major tool to assist parties to a conflict in the implementation of peace agreements or to provide a rapid response to complex emergencies. In view of lessons learned from previous missions, we actively support the improvement of the rapid deployment capability of the Organization, including the establishment of a rapidly deployable headquarters. Currently, some 1,200 Austrians — troop contingents, military observers, civilian police and civilians — are serving in United Nations missions and in the Implementation Force (IFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We will continue to participate in such operations. In this context, I am pleased to announce that my country will participate in the system of stand-by arrangements. We will also continue to assist the United Nations in its efforts to improve the quality of peace-keeping personnel through our participation in the United Nations training assistance team programme. International training centres in Austria offer training programmes for military as well as civilian personnel. We have joined forces with the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in the strengthening of conflict prevention and peace-keeping capacities in Africa. As regards preventive diplomacy, over the last few years, we have witnessed an increase in the deployment of small political field missions. They play an important role in the preventive diplomacy efforts of the Secretary-General and his Special Representatives, and in the coordination of peace-building initiatives. Austria encourages the Secretary- General to make more use of this cost-effective instrument. We therefore support his proposal to establish clear budgetary procedures ensuring a sound and predictable financial basis for such missions. The United Nations took the lead in developing the concept of post-conflict peace-building. Today, not only the United Nations but also the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are elaborating concepts of how to assist in the consolidation of peace and the prevention of the recurrence of conflicts. The objective of peace-building is political, but it often requires action in the economic, social, humanitarian or human rights fields. The broad variety of available instruments is amply demonstrated by a recent survey of the United Nations system’s capabilities in post-conflict reconstruction compiled by the Vienna-based Reconstruction and Development Support Unit of the Secretariat. The ability of the United Nations system to act in an integrated manner in peace-building represents a test for its overall ability to reform and to modernize. We call upon the Secretary-General to develop comprehensive criteria and operational guidelines, including on the question of leadership for peace-building activities. We also encourage the Secretary-General to intensify his cooperation with international financial institutions and other relevant actors in this field. As regards regional conflicts, time constraints prevent me from addressing in detail the many situations in all parts of the world where the international community, often under the leadership of the United Nations, has attempted to bring conflicts and human suffering to an end — as in the Great Lakes region of Africa, Liberia and Afghanistan. I will limit myself to a conflict in our immediate neighbourhood, namely the situation in the Balkans: in the former Yugoslavia. My country follows developments there with both great hope and great concern. The implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement lags behind our expectations, especially in the civilian field. However, we must not overlook the foremost achievement of this Agreement: the fact that a very brutal and bloody war was stopped and that the road for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s return to normalcy was paved. It is an encouraging sign that ballots, and no longer bullets, are in place. 9 The elections held on 14 September represent a vital step forward and indicate the Bosnian people’s determination to continue with the peace process. The setting up of common institutions, as foreseen by the Dayton Agreement, is now the number-one task. Notwithstanding the primary responsibility of the parties themselves to fully implement the Dayton peace accords, it is indispensable that the international community not abandon the country after the expiration of the IFOR mandate by the end of this year. We will have to continue to assist the people and authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina in their efforts to rebuild a civil society and to strengthen reconciliation among ethnic groups. Sustainable management of environmental resources to ensure both human progress and human survival poses a major challenge at the outset of the twenty-first century. At present, we are compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The United Nations has a crucial role to play in achieving a common understanding of sustainability and in promoting its implementation. We therefore attach great importance to next year’s special session of the General Assembly on the overall review and appraisal of Agenda 21. The special session should not only assess the implementation of the Rio commitments, but should also elaborate a global consensus on new important areas such as sustainable consumption, production patterns, energy and transport. The process of globalization also profoundly changes the parameters of social development in all countries. The World Summit for Social Development took up this challenge and agreed on a set of principles, goals and commitments to enhance the benefits and mitigate the negative effects of this process. We welcome the determination of the United Nations system to translate the outcome of the Copenhagen Summit into its operational work for the benefit of all people. We are striving nationally to meet our commitments even in times of budgetary cuts. I avail myself of this opportunity to recall the Austrian invitation to hold a regional follow-up conference to the social Summit in Vienna at the end of 1997 or the beginning of 1998. My next point is disarmament. A more cooperative approach to security is to provide a setting conducive to giving new impetus to international disarmament and arms control. Serious efforts must be undertaken to eliminate weapons of mass destruction and to strengthen the various arms control and non-proliferation regimes. At the same time, more attention should be devoted to areas of conventional disarmament, such as the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms, small arms and arms transfers, as well as to the further development of universal regimes of transparency in armaments. The Wassenaar Arrangement, recently established in Vienna, will make an important contribution to international peace and security. In response to the human tragedy of civilian landmine victims, Austria has been one of the first countries to establish a total moratorium on anti-personnel landmines, and is aiming for an agreement on a worldwide total ban on this scourge of humanity. The approval of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test- Ban Treaty (CTBT) constitutes a milestone on our path towards a more secure future, leaving behind the nuclear weapons competition that defined the cold war. Austria welcomes the test moratoriums announced by all five declared nuclear-weapon States, and we call on all States to work on the rapid ratification of the CTBT in order to foster nuclear non-proliferation and to spare this planet further ecological damage. The organization for the CTBT and, pending entry into force, its preparatory commission, will play a vital role in verifying the implementation of the test ban. Austria considers it an honour to host such an important international organization and will contribute its share to creating favourable working conditions. The position of Vienna, which already hosts the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as the centre of global nuclear non-proliferation is further strengthened by the addition of crucial nuclear verification facilities. This fight can be won only by pursuing a double- tracked approach: on one track, non-proliferation is a precondition for ridding ourselves of the risk of nuclear destruction. On the other track, the nuclear-weapon States are called upon to honour their obligation under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to disarm their nuclear arsenals with the ultimate goal of the complete elimination of these weapons. The United Nations should continue to play a leading role in the progressive development of international law. Austria highly esteems the work of the International Law Commission. Currently the elaboration of a statute for an international criminal court is of utmost importance. Austria strongly supports the early establishment of the court, to end the widespread culture of impunity. 10 Finally, I would like to mention the United Nations Office at Vienna: our strong commitment to the United Nations also manifests itself in Austria’s role as one of the headquarters of the Organization. United Nations programmes and agencies based in Vienna represent highly important instruments in international efforts to meet new threats to peace, security and development. I am referring to the key role of the International Atomic Energy Agency in preventing nuclear proliferation; that of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme and the United Nations crime Division, which fight against drug abuse, money laundering, organized crime and corruption; of the Office for Outer Space Affairs, the principal United Nations body for international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space; of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the central coordinating agency for information, analysis, advice and assistance in the field of sustainable industrial development; and of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the international centre for the promotion, harmonization and unification of the law of international trade. We would like to pay tribute to UNCITRAL for the able manner in which it is carrying out its task. The Austrian Government is looking forward to celebrating the Commission’s thirtieth anniversary on the occasion of its next meeting, in spring 1997 in Vienna. Over the years, the IAEA and the United Nations Office at Vienna have understood the importance of building a solid reputation for good and lean management. UNIDO has undergone drastic reforms, streamlining its secretariat and clearly defining its priorities and areas of concern. As one of the host countries of the United Nations, we are particularly committed to the reform efforts being undertaken by these organizations and by the United Nations system as a whole. We shall support all efforts to fulfil the commitments we all agreed on last year, to make the United Nations fit for the twenty-first century.