Belgium

“[Today more then ever we should realize that we are delegations of many countries] to the same Assembly which collectively represents the interests of the world. [We must be] conscious, over and above the interests of our own country, of the interests of the world and of mankind. “Each of us must first of all make an effort to sink our preferences, to put aside our particular sympathies and our particular antipathies. “The fact is that ... we did not succeed in forming a real international spirit. ... If we can create that kind of spirit, and if we can practice what I regard as the two cardinal virtues ... that is to say, good faith and good will, if we are able to apply certain simple but important rules ... we shall succeed. “[In an Assembly like that of the United Nations, we must make a great effort to bridge our various views.] Naturally, we must all watch over the interests of our respective countries, but we shall not succeed unless we are convinced that those interests must take their place in the wider setting of the general interest.” (Official Records of the General Assembly, First Session, Part One, Plenary Meetings, 2nd meeting, p. 48) What I have just said was not written recently. It was not written when we drafted the Belgian statement for the fiftieth session of the General Assembly. It was an extract from the official statement delivered by the President of the General Assembly at its first session, Mr. Paul Henri Spaak, then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium. His appeal, issued at London on 11 January 1946, is as pertinent today as it was then. The United Nations was long paralysed by geopolitical problems posed by the East-West rivalry, but in recent years the Organization has been able increasingly to focus on all aspects of universal society. This is a philosophy that marks a change in global attitude. Human rights, sustainable development, the environment, social change, population questions and the rights of women, to name but a few, have been on the agenda of the major international conferences successfully organized by the United Nations. A precondition for the success of this international approach is that we have the courage to break away from the old taboos and dare for the first time to discuss issues as never before. It is impossible for me here to discuss each and every one of these items, and I shall limit myself to highlighting two of them. I realize that in doing so I may be ignoring so many other problems which are important for the immediate future of our United Nations. I will start with the question of disarmament. In May this year 180 countries agreed to the extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The five nuclear Powers pledged to reduce further their already greatly reduced arsenals, and all other participants solemnly promised indefinitely never to acquire these weapons, which jeopardize the very existence of the Earth. Belgium urged other non-nuclear- weapon States to accept the indefinite extension of the NPT; I detected the firm will of all signatories to respect the Treaty in letter and spirit. We expect nevertheless that nuclear arsenals will be further reduced. In this context we pin great hopes on the prompt ratification of the START II treaty. Nuclear non- proliferation should be strengthened as soon as possible by the signing next year of a comprehensive test-ban treaty and by a treaty prohibiting the production of fissile material for military use. Those two treaties will provide an indispensable complement to the NPT on the path towards the total nuclear disarmament which Belgium has always desired. The coming negotiations on a comprehensive test- ban treaty will show whether or not the nuclear Powers are willing to accept the zero option, which to my mind is the most important question for the future. In this context Belgium deplores the recent nuclear tests and fervently hopes that the other nuclear-weapon States will maintain their moratoriums. A decision not to conduct any further tests would strongly promote the creation of a propitious atmosphere for the resumption of the negotiations and their successful completion in 1996. On behalf of Belgium, I strongly urge the nuclear-weapon States to desist from all further testing. I have just spoken about what are called weapons of mass destruction, and obviously the threat posed by nuclear and biological weapons is enormous. But we should remember that in fact it is conventional weapons that claim by far the most victims. In cooperation with the European Union, Belgium will play an active role in this field, as we have done in recent months with regard to anti-personnel mines. In this regard my country has been a pioneer, including through the adoption by its Parliament of forward-looking legislation prohibiting the 22 production and use of such weapons in Belgium. In the United Nations we joined in the initiative to hold a special conference in Geneva, over which my country had the honour to preside. Belgium is also aware of the dangers posed by new laser weapons and their horrendous consequences. My country is prepared to adopt an activist policy in this sphere. To my mind, the next priority of the United Nations is social and economic progress. The promotion and protection of human rights are an essential element of this. Our own history shows that respect for human rights and the existence of a State based on law and of political institutions elected and functioning democratically and following the principles of good management are absolute conditions for sustainable development. Yet we cannot say that the results of international cooperation have been altogether positive. Countries both of the South and of the North must ponder this. It makes no sense to speak of peace on Earth if at the same time we cannot pursue the planet’s social and economic development. World-wide overall wealth has increased sevenfold in the past 50 years and international trade has grown even more. But at the same time poverty has never been greater. Furthermore, economic recession and the debt crisis have affected certain sections of the population in developing countries more than others. The inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth have therefore become even greater. To combat this we need to act internationally, if only because of the globalization of the world economy. Intensive multilateral cooperation, including cooperation between the international financial institutions, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the World Trade Organization will be necessary. We must also consider how the population can be involved in the preparation and implementation of reforms. Of prime concern are basic needs. Real social development is impossible if those are not cared for. Belgium is ready to participate in this effort, as it has long done. The Belgian social security system too is marking its fiftieth anniversary. That system is now being questioned, for the unemployment rate has increased dramatically, threatening the financing of the whole system. However, this system remains the best guarantee for preserving the balance between economic development and social development. The State should remain responsible for the provision of the basic needs for all. Belgium therefore calls for the development of a mechanism which allows economic development to go hand in hand with social development. Governments must respect the rights of workers and improve working conditions and the security and health of the workers. The five basic social conventions of the ILO — relating to minimum age for employment, the abolition of slavery, freedom of trade unions, freedom of negotiation and non-discrimination — should be internationally recognized as fundamental conventions, which would provide a concrete impetus for this. The major international conferences organized by the United Nations have proven a useful means of studying basic questions relating to the goal of social emancipation and genuine sustainable development in all countries. In Rio de Janeiro, old concepts of development were replaced by that of sustainable development, which has functioned as a common theme throughout all the other conferences. At the World Conference on Human Rights, in Vienna, a Declaration was adopted which underscored and enriched the universal consensus on the respect due under all circumstances to human beings. It called on all Member States not only to prevent human rights violations, but also to promote those rights. For its part, Belgium was the first country in Europe to adopt a law, in February 1994, linking respect for human rights to development cooperation. The International Conference on Population and Development, held at Cairo, recognized the relationship between the individual’s reproductive and sexual health and the development of every individual and every country. The importance of the World Summit for Social Development, held at Copenhagen, lay above all in its integrated approach to linking the fight against poverty, the creation of jobs, and the promotion of social integration, and in the adoption on that basis of coordinated national and international strategies. It is gratifying also to note the universal consensus on the concepts and issues that will deserve our attention in the future. Finally, the Fourth World Conference on Women, recently held at Beijing, stressed the role of women as full participants in the decision-making process and in economic affairs, by recognizing that genuine sustainable development and true democracy will be impossible without women. 23 The United Nations should make economic and social development its highest priority. It should involve world public opinion in these decisions and should ensure their follow-up and resolutely implement them in the field. Belgium is prepared to reflect the programmes of action of all these conferences in its future policies in the spheres of development cooperation, foreign trade, international finance and in its foreign policy in general. I have laid stress on two areas where the United Nations will play a decisive role. It will be a challenge to us all; the results will not be assessed until the hundredth anniversary of the United Nations. To meet our goal, it is vital for us to strengthen the tool that is the United Nations. The United Nations and its specialized agencies must maintain — and strengthen and adapt — their resources and activities so as to give effect to the decisions and achievements of these conferences. Specifically, duplication must be avoided; rationalization and the possible merging of bodies working in the same field are inevitable. The Economic and Social Council must be rehabilitated; its role could be reviewed. It should be the most suitable body for staging international conferences and, through the United Nations system, should coordinate and supervise the implementation of conventions and programmes. It should also spur interaction among the major agencies and institutions of the United Nations system. The agenda of the General Assembly must be reviewed so that the Assembly can regain its original role as the Organization’s supreme decision-making, deliberative and policy-making body. Security Council reform is the subject of intense debate. Without going into details, I would like to recall Belgium’s view that such reform should strengthen, inter alia, the Council’s capacity for action and its representativity. The Charter gives the Council responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security on behalf of all, and for the benefit of all. Belgium is convinced that the authority of Council decisions would be enhanced if troop- and equipment-contributing countries were more closely involved in the preparation of those decisions. The Organization is facing numerous financial problems. The development of new activities is often hobbled by disagreements on the allocation of costs. There is a growing structural rift between the capacity for multilateral action and the increasingly frequent demands for intervention. How can we prevent the United Nations from becoming a victim of its own success? One fundamental obligation is that every Member State must promptly pay the contribution it has been assessed based on its ability to pay. Non-payment is a serious violation of commitments, and is even more deplorable when certain delinquent contributors are also demanding a special role in the Organization’s policy- and decision-making processes. Finally, we must keep working towards the new international spirit to which I referred at the beginning of my statement. Without such a new awareness in society at large, we shall never be able to make the United Nations into the universal instrument for peace and sustainable development it must be. In that context, I want to close with another quotation from that great statesman, the first President of the General Assembly, Belgian Foreign Minister Paul Henri Spaak, who as early as 1943 said that “The world will never be organized if each State retains its full national sovereignty and the absolute right to resolve its political and economic problems as it sees fit”.