Much has been said from this rostrum in recent years
about global governance. Yet in fact there is a
pervasive feeling that chaos is inexorably engulfing our
planet. Indeed, one global crisis comes hard on the
heels of another. International law is being shamelessly
trampled. Inequality and poverty are on the rise, and
above all, an ever increasing number of people in the
world are exposed to suffering.
This is the logical outcome of the world operating
without a system and order. Twenty years ago, the
international community had its own constitutional
moment as a result of the end of an epochal
confrontation, an opportunity to elaborate a
comprehensive strategy for stable development of the
world in the future. We missed that opportunity, first of
all because egoism and gloating rather than common
sense took the upper hand in the mindset of the
so-called winners.
The lack of common vision excluded the
possibility of our taking effective concerted action. As
a result, the international community today is only
reacting to ever-rising global challenges, having no
recourse to instruments that might prevent them. The
situation is bound to persist unless we arrive together
at a set of long-term, efficient measures. We need a
global strategy against chaos.
The failures of the international community over
the past twenty years suggest that for such a strategy to
become a strategy for success, it would have to be built
around the following three foundations: strengthening
international law, establishing global partnerships and
revitalizing the United Nations.
The history of mankind has always been the
history of the opposition of power and law. Only in the
past century has that argument been resolved, and only
de jure, in favour of the latter. By the way, it is hardly
an exaggeration to say that a civilization is shaped by
its transition from power to law.
Belarus is firmly convinced that a strategy
against chaos cannot succeed if we fail to preserve and
strengthen the system of international law as a
deterrent against lawlessness and impunity. Clearly,
there is more than enough reason to be concerned,
since power, de facto, dominates law more often than
not.
This year we have witnessed far-reaching
changes in the Middle East. The countries of that
region have the inalienable right to determine their
own way of development. All of us must respect the
choice made by those States and refrain from
interfering in their internal affairs. That is our
international obligation as Member States of the United
Nations.
Unfortunately, not every country complies with
its international obligations concerning the free choice
of development paths. For decades the United States of
America has maintained an economic, trade and
financial blockade against freedom-loving Cuba. That
is a clear violation of United Nations principles and
decisions.
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Belarus has also found itself the target not only of
malicious attacks but also of economic sanctions for
the choice that the Belarussian nation made with the
election of its own President. Belarussians will never
renounce their right of choice. Determining our own
path of development is a sacred value to us. Neither
sanctions nor blackmail and threats will alter our
stance. Justice is on our side.
Belarus has never tried to teach anyone how to
live. We consistently advocate the need to respect the
diverse development paths of the world’s nations. The
Republic of Belarus stands ready to develop mutually
beneficial cooperation with all countries, even those
with whom we continue to have acute differences.
After all, we are simply asking that others treat us as
we treat them, with respect and equality. That is our
right too.
The great Albert Einstein once said: “Problems
cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that
created them.” The growing transnational challenges
and threats cannot be successfully addressed through
traditional foreign policy tools such as balance of
power, spheres of influence, sanctions and threats. We
need new forms of cooperation that factor in the two
contemporary global shifts that foreign policy analysts
correctly emphasize: from the West to the rest, and
from States to non-State actors.
We believe that global partnerships among States,
international organizations, civil society and the
private sector represent the best form of cooperation
for facing those and any other challenges.
Global partnerships constitute an integral part of
the strategy against chaos. It is just such partnerships
that can ensure a real pooling of efforts by interested
stakeholders in today’s world in order to oppose the
whole array of challenges and threats that recognize no
borders. We are certain that at the international level
there is no alternative to integration and inclusiveness.
Globalization and interdependence have made all of us
equally vulnerable to transnational problems. Thus,
there cannot be well-being and stability in the world
for the few while others live in poverty and suffering.
The profound changes in Africa and the Middle
East caused by the growing problems of poverty and
inequality dictate the need to achieve a global
partnership for development. Last year’s High-level
Meeting at the United Nations and the Seoul Meeting
of the Group of 20 made important contributions to the
efforts in this field. At the same time, the relentless rise
of oil, food and energy prices across the globe points
out a new strain on development, hence the need for
more proactive and unconventional approaches.
Among such specific approaches, we consider it
important to address the issue of the transfer of
effective, cutting-edge energy technologies to
developing and middle-income countries. That is also a
key element for overcoming the problems of climate
change. What is crucial here is that such technologies
already exist and are established in many parts of the
globe. Therefore, the difficulties are not technical.
Ultimately, let us grasp one point: today it is
impossible to have a green paradise for the affluent
countries while the poor ones live in a contaminated
hell. The finite nature of Earth rules out such a
scenario.
As a practical step, Belarus would like to suggest
setting up a global mechanism — through a General
Assembly resolution on new and renewable sources of
energy and under the outcome document of the Rio+20
Conference — under the aegis of the United Nations to
ensure access to modern energy technologies for all
countries of the world. That would be our best
contribution to the International Year of Sustainable
Energy for All that we are to celebrate in 2012.
Over the past year, we have made important
strides in forging the Global Partnership against
Slavery and Trafficking in Human Beings in the
Twenty-first Century, initiated by Belarus. The
implementation of the Global Plan of Action to Combat
Trafficking in Persons is under way. Interested States,
international organizations and civil society, along with
the private sector, are already actively participating in
the process. It is gratifying that these efforts have
focused on protecting the rights of victims.
Throwing its full weight behind such an
approach, Belarus was among the first States to make a
voluntary contribution to the United Nations Voluntary
Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking. We are grateful
to those countries that joined in the work of the Group
of Friends United against Human Trafficking.
Among the prospects for establishing global
partnerships, we see as highly promising the theme of
supporting youth. At the Assembly’s High-level
Meeting on Youth last year, Belarus came up with the
initiative to create a partnership to that effect. We
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welcome the High-level Meeting on Youth held in July
this year in the context of the International Year of
Youth. We hope that the event will be followed by the
development of efficient global policies to protect the
interests of youth.
There is a natural place where a strategy for
development for the future must be devised and
implemented. That place is the United Nations. The
question today is, to what extent is the United Nations
fit to take this task upon itself? Let us be frank. We all
have claims against the United Nations. Indeed, the
major task of the Organization over the past years
seems to have been to survive various crises rather than
to solve, let alone prevent, them.
Is the United Nations to blame for this state of
affairs? Let us be outspoken once more and say “No”.
The United Nations is us. It is us, the Member States,
who are at fault, because together we failed both to
grasp what kind of world we wanted to build and to
adjust the United Nations to the new realities.
Therefore, it is hardly surprising that the United
Nations has more frequently served as a stage for
individual actors rather than as a platform for common
action.
The need to revitalize the Organization stands out
sharply as never before. We need to reform the
principal organs of the United Nations and the
fundamental orientation of its activities.
The Security Council should not stay fixed in a
form that was appropriate in era of realpolitik. In the
interests of developing countries above all, we are
convinced that the Council must be enlarged in both
categories. Bringing the Council’s working methods
into conformity with the spirit of the age must serve to
enhance the authority and efficiency of its work.
The world is plagued by severe economic
problems, yet the substantial economic capacities of
the United Nations have not been properly utilized.
The activities of the Economic and Social Council
should be aligned with solutions to the urgent problems
of Member States to a much greater extent than they
are now. Belarus is eager to contribute to this work,
including as member of the Council, provided that next
month Member States do Belarus the honour of
electing it to that vital United Nations body.
Strengthening the United Nations is impossible
without striking a balance among the interests of
various groups of countries. Several years ago, Belarus
was among the Member States that initiated efforts to
have the General Assembly pay greater attention to the
problems of middle-income countries. We are glad to
see that since then there has been a growing
understanding of the significance of that group of
countries in world political and economic processes. At
the current session Belarus, together with like-minded
countries, will continue efforts to guide United Nations
organs conducting operational activities towards a
more robust and efficient response to the specific needs
of that group of countries and its many members.
The authority of the United Nations among the
world’s ordinary people is high in places where it
really helps in the transition from chaos and violence
to order and stability through its peacekeeping
activities. In our view, efforts to strengthen this domain
demand the widest support. Responding to the request
of the Secretary-General, Belarus started contributing
as it could by taking part in peacekeeping operations.
There is also the need to enhance the mediation
role of the United Nations in the settlement of disputes
by peaceful means. For that it is important not only to
build up the Organization’s internal capacities, but to
ensure active United Nations cooperation with regional
organizations, for instance the Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO), which know best the
problems in their own areas of responsibility. As the
current Chair of the CSTO, Belarus stands ready to
assist in this effort as much as it can.
Martin Luther King once said, “The time is
always right to do what is right.” Let us heed this
reasonable advice and, as the international community,
do without delay what we must do.