First of all, let me say how satisfied I am about this week's decision of our 14 European Union (EU) partners to lift the measures implemented on 31 January against Austria. This is a victory for reason, and it is also a victory for Europe. In the last seven and a half months — a very difficult time, I must say — the United Nations has stood by us. Austria treasures this support. The United Nations has had confidence in our firm commitment to universal standards and values. The report of the “three wise men”, Martti Ahtisaari, Marcelino Oreja and Jochen Frowein, comes to the same conclusion. Austria will continue its role as an active, reliable and constructive Member State of the United Nations. Austria expects to resume fully its formal and informal work within the European Union. This is absolutely crucial in view of the important projects that lie ahead of us: first, the reform of the institutions of the European Union and, secondly, the enlargement of the Union, a matter of great importance and a historic responsibility. An enlarged Union will bolster European stability and prosperity. Its benefits will reach beyond Europe. Austria, as a country in the heart of Europe, will fully support and, in its own interest, accelerate the process of enlargement. Since this fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly coincides with the turn of the millennium, we ought to undertake a broader examination of today's world. We ought to design policies of a long-term nature. All too often we have to cope with contradictions when engaging in day-to-day politics and when rapidly responding to crises on the one hand and addressing sustainable societal development on the other. A great number of our decisions taken today have important implications for future policy options. Generations to come will have to bear the cost, and they will enjoy the benefits of our policies. It is in this context that I wish to pay tribute to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his clairvoyance and leadership. His millennium report embraces a balanced analysis of the challenges the international community faces today, and it offers concrete, accomplishable and far-sighted recommendations. Austria welcomes this road map for the future course of United Nations activities and will follow its guidelines. Furthermore, Austria supports the timely initiative of the Secretary-General to mandate a comprehensive review of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects. Since the environment for complex peace operations has become more challenging than ever before, Austria, as a major troop contributor, welcomes the report and the recommendations drawn 17 up by a group of experts under the leadership of Mr. Brahimi. We are ready to support their implementation. As Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), I wish to outline a number of major achievements of the OSCE during this year. The OSCE serves as the primary forum for early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation in my region. This year we are celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act. This truly historic document initiated the Helsinki Process, from which we still draw valid lessons for our common efforts to achieve “freedom from fear”, to use this vivid notion from the report of the Secretary-General (A/54/2000, para. 65). Security and stability through cooperation and the effective protection of human rights within each country have a direct bearing on international peace and security. The fundamental significance of democracy, human rights and strong civil societies has been affirmed in the Charter on European Security adopted by the OSCE participating States last year in Istanbul. The OSCE has proved to be a flexible institution, adapting itself to the far-reaching changes in the political landscape of Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Over the past decade, it has evolved into a vibrant organization with a network of as many as 20 field operations. Not only in South-Eastern Europe and Central Asia, on which I will elaborate later, but also in other parts of the OSCE area, we have been able to achieve concrete results in our continuing efforts for peace and stability. As to conflict prevention, I would like to mention the successful observation mission of the OSCE at the border between Georgia and the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation. We can also register some positive developments concerning the political resolution of “frozen conflicts” in Georgia and in Moldova — conflicts which are often outside the spotlight of broader public attention but nevertheless have a highly destabilizing impact on the region and beyond. Through my frequent travels as Chairperson- in-Office, I wish to enhance the political awareness regarding these unresolved or potential conflicts and security risks. The conflict situation in Chechnya remains unresolved and a matter of great concern. Let me mention an achievement in the institutional field. An important step in enhancing the civilian crisis management capability of the OSCE was set with the establishment of the Rapid Expert Assistance and Cooperation Teams (REACT), a programme which should speed up the deployment of highly trained civilian experts to the field. What are the specific challenges the OSCE is currently facing in the prevention, settlement and management of conflicts? In South-Eastern Europe the work of the Organization focuses in particular on the strengthening of democracy, post-crisis rehabilitation, the rule of law and civil society. The promotion of free and fair elections plays a key role in achieving these goals. The OSCE is tasked with organizing local elections in Kosovo at the end of October this year and, only two weeks thereafter, of general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Kosovo, the OSCE has been involved in the complex task of civil and voter registration, which resulted in more than 1 million registrations. I note with regret that the Kosovo Serbs did not participate in the registration process and that Belgrade would not allow the registration of Kosovo Serbs in Serbia. The OSCE, however, will continue its efforts to bring about active participation of the Kosovo Serbs in democratic political life. We will not lose sight of our common goal of a pluri-ethnic Kosovo. Kosovo is an excellent example of the new quality of the cooperation between the United Nations and the OSCE as a distinct component within the overall framework of the United Nations Interim Administration. A central goal of Austria's chairmanship of the OSCE is to give equal attention to current, and often long-standing, conflicts as well as to potential security risks. In the pursuit of this policy, we support the explicit goal of the OSCE to create a common security space. This implies a strong focus on the Caucasus region and on Central Asia. The OSCE effectively contributes to the alleviation of the suffering of the civilian population in this region, the promotion of political dialogue between warring parties and the monitoring of post-conflict arrangements through observer missions. Conflict prevention is key to the work of the OSCE in Central Asia. During my most recent visit to the region, I obtained a first-hand impression of its 18 security problems. In addition to the destabilizing effects of the precarious situation in Afghanistan, the Central Asian region faces manifold transnational threats, such as terrorism, organized crime, illegal arms and drug trafficking and the degradation of the environment, as well as violent extremism and religious fundamentalism. The OSCE is well placed to support the Central Asian States in their common efforts to deal effectively with these multiple challenges to their security. It acts as a political catalyst supporting the efforts of other, specialized international actors. The international conference, jointly prepared by the OSCE Chairmanship and the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, on the issues of drugs, organized crime and terrorism, to be held in Tashkent on 19 and 20 October is only one example. I cannot but re-emphasize the importance of the human dimension in the work of the OSCE. In the course of this year we have focused our work on a number of abhorrent facets of civil unrest, such as children in armed conflict, the proliferation of small arms and the trafficking in human beings, particularly women and girls. It is in this context that I would like to highlight the recent adoption of a comprehensive Action Plan for Gender Issues, which will guide the OSCE in its commitment to advance equality between women and men and to protect the human rights of women and girls in the region. If we analyse the profound changes that have occurred in the recent past, we note that the individual citizen has gained in prominence not only as an actor in our democratic societies, with growing responsibilities in relation to the social, environmental and economic sustainability of our development, but as a victim of new threats to security. It is noteworthy that the United Nations, the Group of Eight and the OSCE have increasingly moved action against terrorism, drug abuse and crime to the top of their agendas. I am pleased to point out that the negotiations on a Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which were held at United Nations Headquarters in Vienna over the past two years, led to a successful outcome in the course of this summer. We are confident that the three additional protocols — on trafficking in and smuggling of persons as well as on trafficking in firearms — will be concluded this fall. Austria, in any case, will strive for a rapid entry into force and implementation of these important legal instruments. We are pleased that the United Nations Centre for International Crime Prevention will serve as the secretariat for the Conference of the Parties. I stress that my country is ready to join forces with our partners in the developing world to counter organized crime in all its facets. Thanks to the human development reports of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), our understanding of development has shifted from macro- economic statistics to a more human-centred concept, defining development as a process of broadening the spectrum of choice, both of the individual human being and of society at large. I am pleased that the Human Development Report 2000 underlines the interrelatedness between human development and human rights. In short, the Report concludes that human development is an essential precondition for the realization of human rights. Human rights, in turn, are an essential prerequisite for comprehensive human development. If, however, we accept that most challenges to human security have a human rights dimension, we may wish to take a new and more operational look at the promotion and protection of human rights. How can we make our human rights regimes more effective in our societies? The Secretary-General has shown us the path to follow, saying: “it is the poison of ignorance, all too frequently, that lies at the heart of human rights violations, knowledge provides an antidote”. (Press release SG/SM/6829, 10 December 1998) Ultimately, it will be citizens themselves who, through better knowledge, become the owners of their human rights. It is in this context that I would like to point out the initiative taken by all women Ministers for Foreign Affairs present at the opening of the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly. We jointly launched an appeal to our fellow leaders in order to energize our common fight against the global scourge of HIV/AIDS, a scourge which increasingly affects women and girls. Our efforts to counter the HIV/AIDS pandemic must be multifaceted. They must encompass access to adequate medical care, drugs and social protection; they must encompass information and services available to girls and women to help them understand their sexual and reproductive rights in order to protect themselves from 19 unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. This should be combined with the education of young men to respect women's self-determination and to share responsibility with women in matters of health, sexuality and reproduction. The United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, spanning the period 1995-2005, was unanimously adopted by this Assembly at its forty- ninth session. We have reached its mid-term and might therefore wish to give it new momentum. We clearly came to understand that human rights education and learning serve as strategies for development on the one hand and as preventive tools for human security on the other. Following an initiative taken by Austria in the framework of the “Human Security Network” of Foreign Ministers, an International Workshop on Human Security and Human Rights Education was convened in Graz, Austria, early this year. Experts from all continents called for human rights education and learning as a common endeavour of governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental institutions. They concluded that human rights education should go beyond formal education so as to encompass all forms of learning and different modes of socialization. Innovative human rights education must be participatory and operational, creative and empowering. It must address all levels of society. All citizens, in particular all persons in positions of leadership, must regard human rights standards as a yardstick when making decisions. In this context, I applaud the initiatives taken in Africa, South Asia, Latin America and Europe to have municipalities proclaim themselves “Human Rights Cities”. I am pleased to announce from this rostrum that the city of Graz will be the first “Human Rights City” in Europe. While we affirm the universality of our human rights, human rights education and learning will have to be rooted in the rich cultural plurality of the world. In the diversity of learning processes we will better comprehend the common humanity we all share. Why, it will be asked, do I raise the issue of human rights education and learning at the General Assembly of the United Nations? It is because I am convinced that in this strategic triangle with human security and human development, human rights are of profoundly political significance for the direction we take in our development. As the acquisition of any political culture takes time, our efforts must be long-term and comprehensive. At the same time, there is a sense of urgency. This is why I appeal to the Assembly to give our efforts in this area a new momentum and new energy and direction. Lately civil society has pleaded for more political leadership in this field. We should be ready to respond and to develop new structures of partnership with civil society and with the institutions already active in the field at national, regional and international levels. The global house of human rights must be built every day. It must be built by everyone and it must be owned by everyone. Only then will it be a house of prosperity, a house of freedom and a house of peace.