“[We] will not enjoy development without security, we
will not enjoy security without development, and we
will not enjoy either without respect for human rights”
(A/59/2005, para. 17). In this year when we celebrate
the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, that fundamental observation by former
Secretary-General Kofi Annan continues to be as
relevant as ever, and it must continue to guide our
actions and those of our Organization and our
Governments.
I should like briefly to recall the two high-level
events that we have attended in the past few days: that
on Africa’s development needs and that on the
Millennium Development Goals. Those meetings
showed that some progress has been made — and there
has been unquestionable progress that must be
acknowledged: for example, we have seen a drop of
400 million in the number of people living in extreme
poverty, a drop of 27 per cent in the mortality rate of
children under the age of five, increased investments in
education and health and progress regarding gender
equality. But they also emphasized the absolute need to
strengthen our efforts if we want to achieve the goals
that we set ourselves by consensus in 2000, all the
more since the rise in food and fuel prices and the
slowing of the world economy that we have seen in
recent months threaten our achievements.
41 08-52265
Luxembourg has resolutely focussed its
cooperation policy on the eradication of poverty,
particularly in the least developed countries. Its actions
are conceived in the spirit of sustainable development,
including its social, economic and environmental
aspects, with men, women and children at their core.
Today, my country spends 0.92 per cent of its gross
national income on official development assistance,
and we expect to continue on that track in order to
achieve the goal of 1 per cent in the coming years.
Together with others, we shall invest our efforts to
ensure that the commitments entered into 2005 at the
European level are fully respected at the Doha
Conference on Financing for Development.
While establishing a true development
partnership must be based on shared responsibilities by
donor and recipient countries, and while we are
counting on strengthened action by developing
countries with regard to good governance, the rule of
law, capacity-building and ownership of their own
development, respect by developed countries of their
commitments regarding the quality and quantity of
assistance is an important basis for such a partnership,
particularly with respect to Africa. Nevertheless, I
would like to recall that the European Union and its
member States account for 55 to 60 per cent of global
worldwide development assistance.
I would not like to omit a subject that was at the
centre of our discussions last year and that has a major
impact on the potential of countries’ development:
climate change. It is essential to continue along the
course started in Bali and to conclude in Copenhagen a
post-Kyoto regime that does not impede, but rather
supports, the sustainable economic development to
which the developing countries aspire. Mechanisms
making an effective transfer of technology possible and
appropriate financing available are, in our view,
indispensable tools for the post-2012 regime, with
respect to both mitigation and adaptation as part and
parcel of an effective global multilateral regime, with
legally binding emission reduction targets for
industrialized countries and with contributions by each
according to their means.
Luxembourg, for its part, decided at the
beginning of the year to systematically integrate the
question of adaptation to climate change into its
development programmes.
However, climate change has a potential impact
not only on development but on the security of
countries. The initiatives of small developing Pacific
island countries to refer this issue to the Assembly
seems to me most timely. It favourably complements
the initiative by the Maldives at the seventh session of
the Human Rights Council to take up the relationship
between climate change and the full enjoyment of
human rights. As I have already had the opportunity to
say from this rostrum, to successfully take on climate
change we must tackle it in all its complexity and face
it in a concerted manner. What better framework to do
so than the United Nations?
Since development needs, particularly in Africa,
have been at the centre of our attention this week,
allow me to say a few words about some of the
conflicts in Africa which impede the development of
the countries they are ravaging, and in whose solution
the United Nations is heavily invested — unfortunately
not always with the desired results.
The conflict of Darfur is in its sixth year now,
and images of people devastated by attacks,
displacement, precarious life in the camps and the daily
fear of fresh violence continue to haunt the media, and
also our minds. International efforts and efforts of the
United Nations to resolve the crisis, particularly
through joint deployment with the African Union of the
largest peacekeeping mission ever decided on, and the
central role of mediation in the search for a political
solution may continue to be in vain if the parties to the
conflict, blinded by their short-term interests, continue
to lack the necessary political will to commit
themselves to a lasting solution.
For a solution to Darfur to be lasting, it must
comprise a number of components: security, by
cessation of hostilities and a return to calm on the
ground; political, by the conclusion of an agreement
for the sharing of power and resources; humanitarian,
through effective measures to respond to immediate
humanitarian needs and development needs of the
population; and judicial, of course, by the end of the
widespread impunity for the crimes committed in
Darfur and bringing to justice the main perpetrators of
the atrocities there to make a true reconciliation
possible. Peace and justice should go hand in hand in
Darfur, just as throughout the world. That is one of the
fundamental principles that guide Luxembourg’s
foreign policy. We cannot, nor should we, close our
eyes to the serious crimes committed in Darfur. Any
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political solution that would indefinitely put off justice
in Darfur would be flouting even further the rights of a
population that has been suffering for too long.
The European Union and my own country are
endeavouring to make their contribution with the
deployment of the European Union force (EUFOR) in
Chad and the Central African Republic, a force charged
with protecting the refugees of Darfur as well as
internally displaced persons, and allowing the
humanitarian community access to those vulnerable
people in a volatile security environment. EUFOR
must pave the path for a United Nations force starting
in the spring of next year. It is important that this
transition occur under good circumstances, according
to the timetable, and that the force can deploy fully, in
the interest of achieving lasting stability in the
subregion.
Another conflict in Africa which concerns us
greatly is the one in Somalia. Somalia has been in the
grips of civil war for more than a generation now, and
the consequences are felt throughout the entire region
of the Horn of Africa. The signing of the Djibouti
agreement several weeks ago between the Transitional
Government and an opposition party will perhaps open
the way to a lasting stabilization of Somalia. Only by
consolidating the political situation and improving
security can the international community fully carry
out its peacekeeping efforts in that country in the wake
of the African Union, which has deployed a
peacekeeping force under extremely trying
circumstances. I welcome the efforts under way in the
Security Council to give concrete form, when
conditions permit, to the firm commitment entered into
by the international community and the United Nations
to help Somalia.
Much more could, indeed, be said about the
situation in Africa. We are concerned over the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, where fighting has
recently resumed. In Zimbabwe, one must hope that all
forms of intimidation and violence will now be ended
so that that battered country can recover. However,
more could also be said about the positive
developments in Liberia and Sierra Leone, where it has
been possible to put in place an integrated strategy for
peacebuilding and to draw up a reliable way out of the
crisis.
The sum of $700 billion has been at the centre of
concerns over financial policy this week. It appears
that this staggering sum has been deployed in order to
repair the damage of the capitalism of the casino-like
banking sector that relies on debt and speculation to
achieve precarious growth. Imagine, for a moment, this
sum being applied to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals upheld by this Assembly in 2000
and 2005. Millions of children could survive. Millions
of women would not die during or after childbirth.
Much progress could be made against AIDS and
malaria, or in education and training programmes for
millions of poor people who live on one or two dollars
a day. Take a moment to reflect on this.
I also want to mention another topic which
concerns us a great deal, one where our Organization,
in cooperation with the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the European
Union, should play a central role, namely, the conflicts
in Georgia.
As the President of the French Republic,
representing the European Union, said a few days ago
from this rostrum, the European Union wants to act for
peace. It is prepared to make its contribution,
particularly by deploying an on-the-ground observer
mission, and in the international discussions that
should begin in mid-October in Geneva, with a view to
a peaceful and lasting solution. Such a solution should
be based on full respect for principles of independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity, and we condemn
any action at odds with those principles. Additionally,
we feel it is important to see that an independent
investigation be carried out on the Georgian conflict.
It is said that war kills truth first. The European
Union has committed itself to stopping the violence
and getting the troops out of Georgia, which will
undoubtedly help the Georgian people in both
humanitarian and security terms. The real reasons for
the outbreak of this conflict cannot be left to historians.
Light must be shed on the situation. Therefore and
most importantly, in order to avoid similar cases in the
future, the raison d’être of the United Nations is to
prevent the outbreak of armed conflict. If a conflict
arises it is incumbent on all of us to investigate the
reasons and the circumstances in order to prevent other
clashes.
I also want to share what was said by the
President of the European Council regarding another
topic, particularly after having heard the statement last
Tuesday of the President of the Islamic Republic of
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Iran before the General Assembly (see ). It is
intolerable that Iran should call for the destruction of
the State of Israel. We cannot tolerate such anti-Semitic
comments, particularly from this rostrum here in our
Organization.
As so often, shadows of darkness and rays of
hope become intermingled when we analyse
international situations, but one constant remains true:
the importance of an effective multilateral system.
The United Nations could be even more effective
if it were to continue its internal reform efforts.
Unfortunately, there is a certain fatigue with regard to
reform of the Organization. This is particularly
regrettable because global challenges cannot wait. A
more cohesive and effective Organization would
benefit us all. Let us not hesitate to redouble our efforts
to honour our reform commitments of 2005.
With regard to the reform of the Security
Council, I am pleased that we are finally going to begin
intergovernmental negotiations at the beginning of
2009. I hope that those negotiations will quickly
achieve results. I also hope that the reformed Council
will be more representative, but above all, I hope that it
will perform better and be more transparent, thereby
ensuring greater effectiveness and enhanced legitimacy
and implementation of its decisions.
Other areas of reform agreed in 2005, such as the
management of the Organization, have not yet been
addressed. I therefore encourage the Secretary-General
to pursue his effort to reform human resources
management on the basis of the three pillars of
transparency, effectiveness and the taking of
responsibility.
With regard to system-wide coherence, we should
pursue our efforts in the areas of operational activities,
commercial practices and environmental initiatives. We
must essentially move away from the fragmented
system that has evolved in the course of the past
60 years of United Nations history.
In conclusion, I think it very important to once
again draw the Assembly’s attention to our collective
decision regarding the responsibility to protect people
against genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and
crimes against humanity. We should continue to work
on the concept of the responsibility to protect, which
should be implemented in the framework of criteria
and conditions set out in the final document of the
2005 Summit (resolution 60/1), so as to progressively
establish an irrefutable basis upon which the
international community can act in accordance with a
given situation.
As a founding Member of the Organization, my
country endeavours to contribute to the purposes and
principles of the Charter through resolute and ongoing
solidarity, through concrete involvement in efforts
aimed at development, peace, security and respect for
human rights, and through the determined pursuit of a
multilateral approach with the United Nations at the
core. It is in that same spirit that, as we did in 2001,
Luxembourg has presented its candidacy for a
non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the
period 2013 and 2014. That too is how we intend to
continue to shoulder our share of responsibility in this
Assembly.