I begin by
congratulating Ms. Haya Rashed Al-Khalaifa on her
assumption of the office of President of the General
Assembly. We have full confidence in her and wish her
every success. I should also like to praise Foreign
Minister Jan Eliasson for his effective leadership
during the Assembly’s sixtieth session, which achieved
truly noteworthy results.
I also warmly welcome the Republic of
Montenegro as the 192nd Member of the United
Nations.
The United Nations confronts huge tasks. There
has already been remarkable progress in certain reform
areas, such as the establishment of the Human Rights
Council, the Central Emergency Response Fund and
the Peacebuilding Commission. We also attach great
importance to the launching of the Global Counter-
Terrorism Strategy, which calls for enhanced United
Nations measures to deal with terrorism and for the
better coordination of such efforts.
Estonia is strongly committed to promoting peace
and security throughout the world. We have been
following developments in the Middle East with
concern and compassion. The recent events have once
again demonstrated that, in addition to the need to
secure lasting peace, there is a need for prompt action
and generous contributions from the international
community to resolve humanitarian crises. Estonia has
not been a bystander. We have been responding to the
dire needs of the people in Lebanon and have provided
assistance to the Iraqi people so that they can rebuild
their country.
Estonia continues to actively support the United
Nations in promoting peace and security, just as we
support the Organization’s important role in
international development. We remain convinced that
the United Nations is an answer to both current and
future threats and divisions in the world. As we fully
subscribe to the comprehensive statement delivered by
the President of Finland on behalf of the European
Union, let me briefly highlight some aspects of global
partnership to which we attach great value.
One of the main aims of the Millennium
Development Goals is to develop a global partnership
for development. That encompasses a commitment to
good governance and the efficient functioning of
democratic institutions, as well as to fully respecting
human rights and the rule of law for the sustainability
of development efforts. As was emphasized in the Final
Document of the 2005 World Summit, no country can
tackle today’s complex challenges alone. While all
nations bear the principal responsibility for their own
development, their individual efforts should be
supported by concrete global actions and programmes.
Partnership is truly a central element in everything we
do.
Joint global action is most urgently needed when
a disaster hits a country or a whole region. For a timely
and efficient response from the international
community, a well-coordinated and properly resourced
global disaster relief system is required. Estonia gives
increasingly high priority to the coordination of
humanitarian and disaster relief assistance at the global
level, and finds it important to further strengthen the
United Nations humanitarian response capabilities. The
first year of the Central Emergency Response Fund has
been a promising step towards a balanced and more
responsive international humanitarian system, although
many challenges remain. We are committed to further
increasing our financial contribution to the United
Nations humanitarian system disaster relief assistance.
In this regard, it is important to always ensure
that disaster relief and all other development activities
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favour environmentally sustainable solutions.
Environmental sustainability is an urgent, but at the
same time long-term, task which demands common
action. Estonia attaches great importance to the need
for coordination and coherence in the field of
environment-related activities, and supports the
creation of a more coherent institutional framework
within the United Nations.
The fulfilment of the internationally agreed
development goals calls for the engagement of not only
Governments and intergovernmental bodies; the
commitments made at major conferences cannot be
implemented without cooperation with local
institutions, the private sector and non-governmental
organizations. Our experience clearly demonstrates that
non-governmental organizations can play a crucial role
in effective development cooperation. In many cases
civil society institutions are much more efficient in
establishing dynamic working relationships with non-
governmental organizations of partner countries than
government institutions. The cooperation with non-
governmental organizations has been remarkably
advantageous in such sectors as sustainable
development and information and communication
technology, as well as e-governance.
This brings us to another area of cooperation —
using information and communication technology to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Since my
country has been notably successful in employing new
information and communication technologies, as well
as in carrying out extensive reforms, we shall continue
to increase our input into overall development in this
field.
There is also a need to reinvigorate and reform
the United Nations. Estonia is ready to contribute to
the best of its ability to the development of a
comprehensive information and communication
technologies strategy for the whole United Nations
structure. All these issues — information technology,
sustainable development and humanitarian and disaster
relief — are also on the agenda of the Second
Committee, which will be chaired by the Permanent
Representative of Estonia during this sixty-first
session. We will do our utmost there to see to the
effective promotion of the matters I have mentioned —
and, of course, all other crucial matters before the
Committee.
We must remain strongly committed to respect
for the rule of law and our rights and dignity as human
beings. Indeed, if we want human rights to form one of
the three main pillars of the United Nations, alongside
security and development, it is essential to implement
both the letter and spirit of resolution 60/251. We
expect the Human Rights Council to be strengthened
and become an authoritative institution, and we expect
human rights issues to gain equal standing with other
major items on the United Nations agenda. This first
year of the existence of the Human Rights Council is a
year of transition and capacity-building. Estonia’s
vision encompasses the establishment of an operational
body reinforced with special procedures and a new
efficient and universal mechanism, which monitors
individual countries, with non-governmental
organizations as essential partners.
We should also make sure that the rights of
indigenous peoples remain an integral part of human
rights and continue to be a matter of substance for the
Human Rights Council. Adopting the draft declaration
on the rights of indigenous peoples during the current
session is of great importance for the millions of
indigenous peoples worldwide. It is crucial that it be
adopted at a plenary meeting of the General Assembly
this year. Its implementation could be a major step
towards eliminating the widespread human rights
violations suffered by many indigenous peoples. The
Human Rights Council could also host a forum for
dialogue where the representatives of indigenous
peoples, States and a special rapporteur could discuss
the issues enshrined in the Declaration.
Another new instrument that needs to be adopted
by the General Assembly and implemented by States as
soon as possible is the draft convention on enforced
disappearances — a recurrent phenomenon that must
be fought against. It is essential that it be adopted at
the current session so that States can start to sign and
ratify it at the beginning of next year in Paris.
The Millennium Development Goals are also
intended to promote gender equality and empower
women worldwide. That includes, of course, the United
Nations. Estonia shares the vision that the role of
women within the decision-making system of the
United Nations should be increased. As the General
Assembly is to decide on the next Secretary-General
this year, we support the proposal to consider
Mrs. Vaira Vike-Freiberga as a candidate. Thus the
President of Latvia could be the first woman to head
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the United Nations in its 60 years of existence. Our
commitment must be reflected in our decisions. The
time has come to have more representatives from
central and eastern Europe in high-ranking posts in the
United Nations. I believe we are ready to make history.
Before finishing, I should like to express my
deepest respect for the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi
Annan. We appreciate his dedication and personal
determination in addressing the enormous challenges
of the twenty-first century and shaping our common
future. During nearly 10 years of service he has held
mankind’s universal values high and led the United
Nations with true vision.