In recent weeks, we have
witnessed a resurrection of the authority of this
Assembly and a new commitment to multilateral
cooperation and a belief that it can and must be made
to work. The new tone of voice we have heard from the
United States here in New York is setting forceful
persuasion above persuasive force and extending a
hand to those who are willing to unclench a fist.
We must all seize this moment. Every country —
including the smallest and weakest — can make a
difference. Building bridges means that we must all
reach out from where we stand today as we struggle
together with the crises in finance, food, energy,
climate and health. New efforts must be undertaken to
break cycles of impasse, including moving decisively
towards peace in the Middle East and a peace
agreement that can deliver a Palestinian State living in
peace side by side with Israel.
11 09-53165
Last month, the Secretary-General visited
Norway’s Arctic to study the effects of global
warming. As we approach the Climate Change
Conference in Copenhagen, the pace of negotiations
must accelerate. Economy-wide reduction targets must
be set for all developed countries. Large and more
advanced developing countries should commit
themselves to measurable, reportable and verifiable
actions. Cuts in emissions from rainforest preservation
must be institutionalized — as stipulated under the
United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing
Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation
in Developing Countries — funded and included in the
new treaty.
Financing is key to success in Copenhagen. Our
Norwegian contributions and proposals may generate
substantial new and additional financing for measures
in developing countries, based on public finance and
dedicated income from the carbon market.
The financial crisis has pushed millions of people
back into the trenches of poverty and made us stumble
in our pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals.
Loss of income is placing public policies at perilous
risk, potentially undermining services on which the
poorest and weakest depend the most, such as health
and education services. Norway supports all the
Millennium Development Goals. We will, for the
second year in a row, surpass the 1-per cent mark in
official development assistance (ODA). After the
financial crisis hit us, we increased our ODA in
absolute terms to show solidarity with those who are
less fortunate than we are.
We focus our action on particular areas where
Norway can make a difference. We will continue to
take on a special obligation with regard to the health-
related Millennium Development Goals. We have
tripled our contributions to health care since the year
2000. Millions of lives have been saved through the
efforts of a broad alliance of partners, private and
public alike. We will continue to play a leading role
until we have achieved those Millennium Development
Goals.
The most disgraceful underachievement of the
effort towards the Millennium Development Goals is
the lack of progress to improve maternal health. While
we can vaccinate children and give mothers a bed net
under a tree at a particular time, what women need are
round-the-clock services in clinics to ensure safe
deliveries, as well as preparedness for transfer to a
hospital in the event of complications. Strengthening
health services is key to reducing maternal and child
mortality and is also a vital element in guaranteeing the
rights of women and children. New and dedicated
efforts to combat maternal mortality will now be
mobilized.
The appalling rise of rape and other forms of
sexual violence reveals an ugly story of men around
the world still regarding women and children as
secondary citizens. We must never rest as long as
women are denied the services and rights that we men
take for granted. Nothing less than our claim to
civilization is at stake.
Today, as we speak, the Security Council is
debating the situation in Afghanistan after the
elections, as well as the need for a new Afghan
Government to connect more strongly with its people,
fight corruption and narcotics, empower State
institutions and protect human rights, and in particular
women’s rights, so that the day may soon come when
Afghans can take care of Afghanistan’s security and
when Afghan men and women can run a democratic
Afghanistan.
We must continue to support the United Nations
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which
has a mandate to coordinate international assistance
with the Afghan Government. UNAMA requires
additional resources, as well as a strong commitment
on the part of all United Nations Member States to the
coordination of efforts under Afghan leadership.
We stand on the threshold of a new era of nuclear
disarmament. The Review Conference of the Parties to
the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons next year must set a clear and specific agenda
for the elimination of existing nuclear arsenals and for
ensuring that nuclear technologies are only applied
peacefully, to the benefit of mankind. Recent
information casts new doubt about Iran’s nuclear
ambitions. Iran itself has the opportunity and
responsibility to remove this doubt, and it is imperative
that it do so.
Furthermore, while nuclear weapons pose a threat
of mass destruction, actual destruction of mass
proportions is caused every day by small arms, cluster
munitions and landmines. Motivated by the
unacceptable harm that these weapons cause to
civilians, Norway is committed to humanitarian
09-53165 12
disarmament. We urge all States to accede to the
Convention on Cluster Munitions and to join
intensifying efforts to control small arms and the arms
trade.
Norway is honoured to have been elected a
member of the Human Rights Council and will work
with others to raise the credibility, effectiveness and
visibility of that important body. Last week, Norway
submitted to the Council its first report on the human
rights situation in my country, taking a critical look at
our own record and inviting constructive criticism. We
encourage all States to submit to similar constructive
criticism of their own records so that the review
process becomes substantial and meaningful.
Here in New York, we welcome the decision to
establish a new and enhanced gender entity and hope to
see it operational as soon as possible. We will pursue
the United Nations reform agenda and system-wide
coherence, as well as the Delivering as One agenda.
The United Nations should take pride in being subject
to more public scrutiny; reform must be an ongoing
effort. Only such an approach will allow us to keep
lending the United Nations all the support this noble
body deserves.