Canada

Allow me to congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly. With your experience and dedication to the goals of this Organization, you will guide us wisely and effectively in our work this year. And important work it is, for as the century draws to a close, our security is more precarious than ever. The spectrum of threats is wide and growing. Traditional dangers persist, including the proliferation of weapons. But new threats — terrorism, crime and drugs — arise from a world in which the face of conflict has changed. Economic and social insecurity for the majority of our global population is on the rise. Increasingly, it is the well-being of individuals that is directly at stake. (spoke in French) There is an urgent need for solutions. The interdependence of all of our lives is unprecedented. It is essential for us to work together to confront these challenges. This means working through a vibrant United Nations. For Canada, the universal values set out in the Charter have acted as our moral compass in setting our global agenda. The United Nations system serves as the instrument in achieving our goals. (spoke in English) At the same time we recognize that the United Nations faces its own worries, and it, too, must change. But a strong, reinvigorated United Nations is still the best foundation for the future. As the contours of that future emerge, there is reason for hope. While old realities of power persist, a new system based on humanitarian standards, practices and law based upon needs and human security is beginning to show through. Perhaps this new reality can best be seen in the common effort to eliminate anti-personnel landmines. The Secretary-General has hailed the adoption of the Ottawa Convention as an unprecedented achievement — one accomplished through a unique partnership of non- governmental organizations, Member States and international groups working together to eliminate a weapons system that victimizes the innocent. 23 Last week, Burkina Faso deposited the fortieth ratification of the treaty, thereby crossing the threshold needed to bring the treaty into force. This treaty, which has already attracted 130 signatories and 41 ratifications, will become part of the international legal framework as of 1 March next year. We welcome the offer by Mozambique to host the first meeting of the States parties to the Convention. We continue to urge those who have not done so to sign and ratify the Convention and join in this international endeavour. But entry into force is just the first important step in bringing the treaty to life. Now we have to meet the treaty?s goals. An effective coalition for action must work together in this next phase to take the mines out of the ground and to help the victims. The United Nations, through its mine action service, will mobilize and coordinate the efforts of the international community. At the signing of the treaty on landmines in Ottawa last December, countries pledged $0.5 billion for mine action. My own Government has allocated $100 million as Canada?s contribution to rid the world of these very cruel weapons. We have already put the money to work in some of the most severely affected States, with projects in Mozambique, Cambodia, Bosnia and Central America. Now we must put everyone?s resources to work. Landmines are not the only weapons that take a tragic, disproportionate toll on civilian populations. Small arms and light military weapons — cheap and easy to transport, smuggle or hide — have become the tools of choice for smugglers, terrorists and criminals. The challenges arising from the proliferation and widespread abuse of small arms and light weapons are complex. But the impact on all of us, especially the most vulnerable, is direct and devastating. Eighty per cent of the victims are women and children. There are no easy solutions and no shortcuts. We cannot, however, afford to shrink from facing such a pervasive threat to our security. In Canada we pursue a three-pronged approach, dealing with the legal trade, illicit trafficking and peace-building challenges of small-arms proliferation. We hope, by working with others in the United Nations, to see the use of this terrible weapon come to an end. Illegal drug-trafficking also threatens our peoples? security. The drug trade affects governance, undermines human rights and promotes cross-border conflicts. That is why Canada has proposed a Foreign Ministers? dialogue group in the Americas. We hope that this will be a forum which can provide guidance and generate ideas to help us curtail the collateral impact of the drug trade on Governments and on society. These and other emerging threats to our security, including terrorism, crime and environmental degradation, affect every one of us but are beyond the reach of any of us alone. They demand global, integrated solutions, which the United Nations is best suited to provide. The International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, concluded last year, ongoing work in developing a convention on transnational organized crime and the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change — all show that we are capable of working together to enhance our human security. Moving the human security agenda forward also requires that we redouble efforts to address the root causes of conflict and risk. Peace and stability are indispensable to security, but they are not, regrettably, humanity?s birthright. They must be built. Two years ago, we launched the Canadian Peace-building Initiative. Its objective is to address the unique challenges of societies recovering from conflict. Through this initiative, projects have been undertaken in Guatemala to assist civil society to implement the peace agreements, in Bosnia to promote awareness of the peace accords, in Mozambique to support a programme to exchange weapons for farming tools, and in West Africa to support the initiative led by Mali to promote a West African arms moratorium. These are small steps, certainly, but constructive ones in working locally to build peace. Today, I am pleased to release a report entitled “Peace in Progress”, which documents the results obtained to date and the wide range of partners with whom we have worked. As the title suggests, Canada intends to carry on with its partners in empowering those working to build peaceful and stable societies in their own countries. It has been a half-century since a distinguished Canadian international civil servant, John Humphrey, wrote the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since then over 60 international human rights instruments have been adopted. Countries have shown a new and welcome willingness to cooperate with the international human rights system. But we must build on that progress, and one of the most important ways that the Assembly can make its contribution this year is to support a strong United Nations declaration on human rights defenders to protect 24 those who are protecting those whose human rights are being abused. (spoke in French) The growing integration of human rights, including women?s rights, into all other aspects of United Nations activity is a recent and important breakthrough. On the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the conditions exist to achieve progress in attaining the goals set out by its drafters. This is good news. However, a review of the human rights situation around the globe makes it painfully clear that we remain far short of these goals. We need to take advantage of the momentum that this anniversary presents. The United Nations human rights system must be assured of both the political support of the membership and increased regular budget financing if it is to do the job we have entrusted to it. (spoke in English) The growth of intra-State conflicts caused by differences of religion, language, race or ethnicity has reinforced the need to protect marginalized groups. To do so, both Governments and civil society must have ready access to information about human rights situations around the world. To this end, Canada has launched for the record an annual report drawn from United Nations sources, which we are making available on the Internet to provide constant updated information concerning human rights around the globe. Certainly, of those at risk from conflict, none are more at risk than children. The targeting of children in warfare — both as fighters and as victims — is intolerable. The ground-breaking efforts of Graça Machel and the work of the Secretary-General?s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, merit special and ongoing support. Enhancing human security also requires establishing legal instruments. The agreement in Rome to establish the International Criminal Court is a major fundamental step towards that goal. This Court will help to deter some of the most serious violations of international humanitarian law. It will help give new meaning and global reach to protecting the vulnerable and the innocent. By isolating and stigmatizing those who commit war crimes or genocide and removing them from the community, it will help end cycles of impunity and retribution. Without justice there is no reconciliation, and without reconciliation there can be no peace. We need to move forward urgently in making the Court a reality. We should begin during this session of the General Assembly to bring the Court into operation. We who have supported the Court should ratify the Statute as soon as possible. We must also work to understand and address the concerns of those States that remain hesitant about the Court — without diluting its effectiveness. Ultimately, we must ensure that we have an institution that will be credible, responsible and effective. Respect for civil and political rights is necessary, but in itself is not sufficient to create the conditions for stable societies. Stability also requires economic and social well- being. Regrettably, statistics show that countries with the lowest income are much more likely to fall victim to violent conflict than others. The number of people whose basic human needs are not being met remains unacceptably and dangerously high. A quarter of the world?s people live in severe poverty; more than 800 million face malnutrition; 180 million children under the age of 14 work as child labourers. As the United Nations human development index makes clear this year, the gap between the haves and the have-nots continues to grow. Countries overburdened by debt are less likely to be developed and more likely to succumb to conflict. Reducing the debt of the least developed nations allows them to devote more resources to basic human needs. That is why at the summit of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Ouagadougou I announced a $20 million contribution to the African Development Bank to support the most heavily indebted African countries. That is also why Canada has forgiven virtually all development-related debt owed to us by the least developed countries — almost $1 billion — and why we encourage others who have not already done so to do likewise. I think we all recognize that globalization presents opportunities, but it also exposes all of us, especially the most vulnerable, to greater economic and social insecurity. The international financial turmoil of the past months vividly demonstrates the impact these crises can have on the daily lives of the least fortunate. It means that we need to be sensitive to the social consequences of financial volatility. And when crisis strikes, the United Nations and its specialized agencies have a special responsibility to assist those most severely affected. 25 There is no greater threat to our security than nuclear proliferation. In 1945, Canada, despite the experience of the most destructive war in history, decided to forgo the nuclear option even though, as a participant in the Manhattan Project, we had the technical capability and material capacity to build our own nuclear weapons. In 1968, the Government of Canada confirmed that decision and joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Every subsequent Canadian Government has reaffirmed that commitment, and we have spent much diplomatic effort to persuade others that nuclear weapons are the problem, not the solution. The non-proliferation regime has enhanced everyone?s security. The credibility of that regime has been severely tested over the years, but particularly over the past six months. India?s and Pakistan?s nuclear tests put the entire non-proliferation regime in jeopardy. Nuclear testing undermines the basic goals and objectives of the Non- Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test- Ban Treaty. Testing puts all of us, not least the people of the testing countries themselves, at greater risk. Therefore, there can be no condoning these actions. And there must be no rewards. We must not legitimize the claims of would-be nuclear Powers, or confer any new status on proliferators. We listened carefully to the presentations of the Presidents of India and of Pakistan this week and we welcome the indications they gave that they would sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. But it is important to reiterate that Security Council resolution 1172 (1998) calls upon India and Pakistan to sign the Treaty without conditions, to participate purposefully in the negotiations on a cut-off treaty on fissile materials, to stop the weaponization of their nuclear programmes, to impose strict export controls on nuclear technology and to embrace fully the non-proliferation regime. We urge them to do so. In that spirit, we welcome India?s and Pakistan?s decision to relaunch their dialogue on Kashmir. We also recognize that preventing horizontal proliferation, while crucial, is no more important than preventing vertical proliferation. Nuclear disarmament is the other half of the nuclear bargain. That bargain is a balance of responsibilities and obligations undertaken by nuclear-weapon and non- nuclear-weapon States alike. Not all nuclear-weapon States have begun to fulfil their obligations under Article VI of the Non-proliferation Treaty, and we call upon them to fulfil their responsibilities. As we all recognize, this period of globalization multiplies the challenges. It is Canada?s conviction that a dynamic, responsive and flexible United Nations system is the best way, perhaps the only way, to meet these challenges. (spoke in French) To fulfil its leadership responsibilities, the United Nations must be assured of reliable and adequate funding. We cannot revitalize the United Nations so long as Member States, particularly the most wealthy and fortunate among them, contribute less to a system from which they demand more. Renewal can be achieved only if Member States pay their assessed dues, present and past due, on time and without conditions. (spoke in English) Let me now speak of the Security Council. The Security Council remains at the centre of what the United Nations is all about: protecting against conflict and human risk. However, the Council?s legitimacy is increasingly being questioned. To remain credible, the Council must re-examine traditional interpretations of its mandate. The Council needs to broaden its horizons in addressing emerging threats which impact on our security. Thematic debates on these issues, in which all Member States can participate, are a good step. The addition of peace- building to the Council?s range of responses to threats to peace and security is also welcome. But the Council must also be more willing and more consistent in both how and when it becomes involved. The Council belongs to all Member States. It cannot be allowed to focus on solving the problems of one region and be indifferent to those of others. The way the Council does its work must be more open and more transparent. For example, Member States involved in and affected by matters before the Council must be allowed to exercise their Charter rights. Far from constraining the Council?s efficiency, this will improve the decisions it takes and render its actions more effective. The trend for permanent members increasingly to assume more control over the agenda, thereby marginalizing elected members, runs counter to the democratic principles which so inform our political institutions at the close of the twentieth century. The distinctions between permanent and elected members need to be narrowed rather than widened. 26 In sum, the Council we need for the next century must be more responsible, more accountable and less impenetrable. We hope that members will support Canada in advancing these aspirations.