Sixty years ago, in
the fall of 1948, the United Nations adopted the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That
international bill of rights contains a forceful reminder
that force can and will be checked, and that the prime
purpose of our work here is to keep the strong just and
the weak secure.
We will celebrate the anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights later this fall,
and we shall be guided by its wording in everything we
do. The rights and opportunities of individuals, groups
and countries are fundamental, and the United Nations
is at the top of the system that oversees those superior
rules.
When I come here every year, I am struck by the
broad span of items that are discussed in the United
Nations. We need to ask, are we focusing on the truly
essential, most serious issues of our times? This year,
we left on the table the unfinished business of the Doha
Round of trade negotiations. The break-up of those
talks has stalled our efforts to provide billions of
people with increased economic opportunity. It is
crucial that we restart this process.
We face a global food crisis. The Secretary-
General has described the effect of that crisis on
hundreds of millions of people who do not know if
they will have enough to eat tomorrow.
Climate and energy are among the biggest issues
of our time. They must be on the top of our agenda.
These big issues are also all about poverty,
inequity and gender. Leadership is called for —
leadership here at the United Nations.
I believe we face not only a food crisis, an energy
crisis, a climate crisis, a trade-talk crisis, but a larger,
decision-making crisis.
We have great institutional capacity. We discuss,
we deliberate and we study, but we are too often unable
to decide. Often, those countries that want the least are
the countries that decide the most. Those that want the
least amount of change and progress are able to slow
us down and block decisions. Now also the Security
Council seems to face difficulties after many good
years.
All countries, all Member States share the
responsibility for the functioning of the United Nations
as a decision-making body that serves us, that is for
people, that solves global problems and that allows all
people to benefit from the rights with which they were
born and which are written in the Declaration on
Human Rights.
To become more effective, the United Nations
must reform. The Secretary-General addressed this
issue with strong conviction on Tuesday (5th meeting).
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We should support him in that process. I am vesting
hope in the ongoing deliberation on system-wide
coherence. I co-chaired the High-level Panel on
System-wide Coherence, and I am heartened that more
and more countries seem to be opting in on the “One
UN” approach.
Some organizations, funds and programmes are
making efficiency gains. They are truly exceptions.
Still, Norway is committed to using the United Nations
as the arena for our most important international
policymaking activities. We allocate 0.98 per cent of
our national income to official development aid. We
are the seventh largest contributor to the United
Nations in absolute terms. That is why we will be
keeping a watchful eye on how the funds and
programmes manage their resources and our
contributions. We and other donor countries will have
to require improved accountability, transparency and a
results-based management system.
Reaching the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) is our foremost priority. We have assumed a
special responsibility regarding MDG 4 on child
mortality and MDG 5 on maternal health. We must all
dedicate the next seven years to the bottom billion.
Several leaders joined me today in presenting a report
from the Global Campaign for the Health Millennium
Development Goals. We also presented a plan for the
next seven years — an exceptional plan that can allow
us to save 10 million lives. If we succeed, we will
build more sustainable societies, reduce conflict
potential and provide a better basis for growth.
We are making progress towards the Millennium
Development Goals. Poverty is being reduced. Child
mortality is falling. But we have not made any progress
at all with regard to maternal health. That is appalling.
There can be only one reason for this awful situation,
and that is a persistent neglect of women in a world
dominated by men. Just think of all the millions of
young girls and young women who know, and who fear
and dread, that giving life may cause their own death.
All this human tragedy is avoidable by simple means,
but we have not taken the problem seriously.
Money does not seem to be a problem when the
problem is money. Let us look for a moment at what is
happening on Wall Street and in financial markets
around the world. There, unsound investment threatens
the homes and the jobs of the middle class. Something
is fundamentally wrong when money seems to be
abundant but funds for investment in people seem so
short in supply. Market mechanisms will not fund
schools in Afghanistan, hospitals in Rwanda, vaccines
given in the slums and the ghettos. That kind of
investment requires political will and decisions. And
we must provide the framework that will direct
resources towards those ends.
When Robert Kennedy was running for president
40 years ago, he said in a speech that a country’s health
cannot be measured simply by its economic output.
That output, he said, “counts special locks for our
doors and the jails for those who break them … yet ...
does not allow for the health of our children, the
quality of their education or the joy of their play”. And
still I would add that health, education and the joy of
play form the capital that must grow and spread. Then,
and only then, will we reach more equal levels of
development and opportunity.
I have come here directly from a visit to the great
rainforests of the Amazon, in Brazil, a country whose
president is committed to lifting his people out of
destitution. That has been President Lula’s leitmotif
throughout his political life.
Norway is a fortunate and developed country.
From that follows a moral responsibility. We pursue
wider development goals and seek to generate positive
incentives for change and improve climate change
policies.
Efforts against deforestation may give us the
largest, quickest and cheapest reductions in greenhouse
gas emissions. In the years leading up to 2015 Norway
will contribute up to $1 billion to reduce deforestation
in the Amazon. This contribution makes Norway the
first contributor to the Amazon Fund. The size of
Norway’s contribution will depend on how successful
Brazil will be in reducing deforestation.
In Bali last December, Norway announced a
major initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
from deforestation and forest degradation.
Deforestation must be included in a new global
agreement on climate change. Addressing climate
change in a fashion that will stand the test of time and
the scrutiny of future generations ultimately boils down
to us versus the sand in the hourglass. It is a test of
maturity for international cooperation.
Finally, I would like to say a few words about a
fellow Nordic country. For the first time since
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becoming a Member State of the United Nations in
1946 — after 62 years — Iceland is a candidate for the
Security Council. Iceland’s candidature reflects the
long-standing commitment of all the Nordic countries
to international peace and the vital work of the United
Nations. Iceland enjoys the active support of its
partners in the Nordic group: Denmark, Finland,
Sweden and Norway. I urge members to take that into
account.