General Assembly Session 57 meeting 23

The Acting President

I now give the floor to the representative of the Russian Federation.

Mr. Lavrov (Russia)

The tragic events of 11 September 2001 gave a powerful impetus to our collective efforts to combat international terrorism and, as rightly underlined by the United Nations Secretary-General in his report on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration, highlighted once again the vital importance of multilateral efforts in preserving international peace and stability. The Russian Federation has always believed that a strong and efficient United Nations is the key tool to collectively manage international affairs and to build a stable multi-polar world order based on the United Nations Charter and the rules of international law. In this regard, it is necessary to continue improving and strengthening the Organization, and this is one of the most important tasks to bear in mind when implementing the Millennium Declaration.

We support the Secretary-General's appeal to formalize in the United Nations agenda the Organization's reform priorities as set out in the Millennium Declaration. In his reports, the Secretary-General, with good reason, emphasizes the unique role played by the United Nations and the Security Council in international efforts to combat terrorism. The strong determination to unite efforts to oppose terrorism is seen in the activities carried out by the international anti-terrorist coalition. Russia is one of the responsible participants in this coalition. It is vitally important that the coalition follow the consolidating and coordinating lead role of the United Nations and the Security Council, according to the rules of international law, particularly Council resolutions 1373 (2001) and 1377 (2001).

We note with satisfaction that, over the past year, the Organization has made great progress in regional conflict settlement issues, such as the assistance rendered to East Timor in its acquiring independence, the provisional self-governance authorities in Kosovo, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Transitional Administration in Afghanistan. We share the United Nations Secretary-General's view of the importance of the progress made during the past year, improving peacekeeping operations and increasing the United Nations' rapid deployment capability.

The Security Council's key role at each phase of a peacekeeping operation -- from the time of authorizing such operation, to adopting its mandate, and until its completion -- is clearly defined in the United Nations Charter. In this context, it is of crucial importance to prevent any attempt to overlook the Security Council's authority, particularly when it comes to deciding on the use of force on behalf of the international community.

We welcome the positive developments seen in enhancing the capabilities of Member States, the Secretariat and the United Nations system at large to plan and conduct peace-making operations. However, contemporary large-scale problems in the world's hotspots require further intensification of joint efforts at all levels -- national, regional and international -- to improve and provide States' assistance in peacekeeping and peace-building to the Organization. In this context, we are deeply concerned about the persistent problem of shortage in troops and logistics to conduct peacekeeping/peacemaking operations, especially on the African continent.

We share the Secretary-General's assessment of the growing role of preventive diplomacy as a reliable means of safeguarding stability in the world. The unique set of political and diplomatic tools to resolve almost every acute international problem now available to the international community should be used effectively. We support the Organization's development strategy, reaffirmed in the Secretary-General's report, aimed at the eradication of poverty, the promotion of economic growth and sustainable development.

Particular importance is attached to United Nations activity guaranteeing a more equitable distribution of globalization benefits among all countries, including through their efficient participation in the international trade system, through strengthened international financial structures and improved access to the international resources for development purposes. The Conferences in Doha, Monterrey and Johannesburg have become significant milestones along the way to attaining such objectives. We also note the new quality of interaction of the United Nations with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other partners in achieving goals set up in the Millennium Declaration and decisions of global forums.

On the whole, we share the Secretary-General's opinion that, despite the complexity of the outcome of the first stage of implementation of the Millennium Declaration, the success achieved shows, nonetheless, that the given tasks are within the international community's power.

The Russian Federation will continue to work actively to implement the Millennium Summit decisions in the future on the basis of the widest possible cooperation with the United Nations. The objectives set out in the Millennium Declaration cover all of today's pressing problems and lay the basis for shaping an effective global system to meet new threats and challenges, as proposed by Mr. Igor S. Ivanov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, in his address to the General Assembly.

Today the entire world realizes the need for making cooperative efforts to overcome common threats. We have already got political experience and legal instruments for interaction, but the most important thing is that the international community have a reliable mechanism -- a United Nations -- that is capable of acting as a global coordinating centre with unique legitimacy, universality and potential.

We propose to adopt a resolution at this General Assembly session to encourage efficient and coordinated action aimed at responding to the challenges of the twenty-first century. The Russian delegation is putting forward a corresponding draft resolution, the essence of which is to facilitate further collective efforts to implement the Millennium Declaration, in such as way that all the objectives stipulated in it are attained on the basis of their organic interrelation and interdependence in the globalization age.

To do so, all States, the United Nations, the specialized agencies, regional organizations and the private sector, as well as civil society, should unite their efforts. We highly appreciate the Secretary-General's endeavour to promote interaction and partnership in all these areas, and we deem it important to encourage such interaction. We hope that our draft resolution will win support of the participants in this session.

The Acting President

I now give the floor to the representative of Cuba.

Mr. Requeijo Gual (Cuba)

I want to express our thanks for the convening of this meeting and for the opportunity given to us by the Secretary-General to discuss his report on the work of the Organization.

On this occasion, we are trying a new way of considering this item by combining a debate with another substantive item on the agenda, the follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit. This is a complex task, because a number of reports have been published by the Secretariat on these topics, and they require profound analysis by Member States. We have very little time for this purpose.

We are now at a crucial point in the consideration of the United Nations system and how to adjust all of its institutions to enable them to deal with the realities of today's world.

The follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit provides us with a unique opportunity to begin the process of creating a just and sustainable world order. It can serve as a turning point, making it possible to stem the new, elitist order of domination that has been taking shape before our very eyes, but without our participation.

In this regard, we thank the Secretary-General for introducing his first annual report on the follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit, as contained in document A/57/270, which invites us to reflect on the future of our Organization.

The delegation of Cuba considers the follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit to provide a way of mobilizing the political will necessary to fulfil the commitments contained in the Declaration, without any need to reassert or restate those commitments.

We believe that the Millennium Declaration is basically well-balanced. Despite the various views and priorities of Member States, the Declaration has been able to provoke a largely positive response from the majority with regard to the need for its implementation. My country would like first of all to welcome the fact that the Millennium Declaration reaffirms our support for the purposes and principles of the Charter and that economic and social development objectives constitute the fundamental core of the international community's priority goals.

The prevention of armed conflict is, without doubt, a challenge that is confronting our Organization to a greater degree than ever before. Cuba believes that the strengthening of the principles and objectives of the Charter and of international law remain the basic pillars of international security: full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, the non-use of force in international relations and non-interference in the internal affairs of States.

The current unjust and profoundly inequitable international order must not be superseded by one that is yet more primitive and based on a unilateral reinterpretation of the Charter and of international law. We should not, for example, seek a United Nations that contributes to the achievement of a safer world by legitimizing neo-interventionism on the pretext of humanitarian action. The security problems that we are confronting today will never be resolved through so-called preventive wars or "humanitarian" intervention, which, in addition to constituting a grave risk to the security and stability of the developing countries, place the United Nations in a position subordinate to hegemonic interests.

Intervention is a gross violation not only of sovereignty but also of international law as it relates to the use of armed force, which the Charter specifically allows as an exception only. So-called humanitarian intervention as an exception to Article 2 of the Charter -- intervention that attempts to justify itself with claims of protecting and defending human rights -- is unacceptable.

The political manipulation of human rights, selectivity, partiality and double standards in the imposition of narrow-minded approaches must come to an end. Absolute and one-sided concepts of democracy based on models that have nothing at all to do with the specific characteristics of the society in question cannot continue to be imposed. If we allow the advancement of ideas that would tend to give yet more power to the powerful, making it easier for them to exercise their policy of domination using our Organization for that purpose, we would be contributing directly to legitimizing the law of the jungle in the system of international relations.

Another challenge presented by the Millennium Declaration is the emphasis that the United Nations should place on resolving the true causes of conflict and the problems of poverty and underdevelopment that today affect over four fifths of humankind. The United Nations has a fundamental role to play in mobilizing financial resources and promoting international cooperation -- elements that are essential if we are to fulfil the commitments and goals of the Millennium Declaration. Without greater political will on the part of the developed countries and the reforms necessary for the participation, on an equal footing, of the developing countries in the monetary, trade and financial systems, the aspiration to achieve a better world will amount only to good intentions and will not enable the eradication of poverty and the attainment of sustainable development in the era of globalization.

Neo-liberal globalization has created a world with clear imbalances. Political, economic and technological power is concentrated in the rich countries, which account for 20 per cent of the world's population, while millions in the developing world are marginalized and continue to live in extreme poverty and to suffer from poor health. For the developing countries, the right to development is an age-old aspiration. Despite the fact that the Millennium Declaration includes the right to development among its commitments, it has been forgotten. Worse yet, some developed countries are even questioning their own commitment to bringing it about. These countries -- the same ones that preach good governance and respect for human rights as a way of development -- might well be asked whether the right to development is not a human right.

My delegation does not share the views expressed in the chapter of the report on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration on human rights, democracy and good governance in public affairs, which imply that only civil and political rights are relevant to the exercise of democracy. Such a claim is tantamount to disregarding the importance of social, economic and cultural rights, and thus undermines the validity of the arguments contained in that chapter.

A change is needed in the international economic and political order, and the United Nations must play an essential role in bringing it about. The international monetary, economic and financial system must be reformed. There is a need for international governability to make current international economic relations transparent and allow the developing countries to be integrated into the world economy in a sustainable way, so that such countries can cease to be passive participants in the global decision-making processes. The developing countries cannot remain on the sidelines as far as the benefits of the information and communication technologies revolution are concerned.

Just two years ago, the international community committed itself in the Millennium Declaration to halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases by 2015. Rather than improving, however, the global situation is worsening. Today, millions are dying of AIDS and millions more are continuing to be infected by the virus. More than 80 per cent of such deaths occur in Africa, where the majority of the more than 28 million people affected by the epidemic do not have proper access either to the medication or treatment that they need in order to fight the disease, avoid other opportunistic infections and alleviate their suffering.

The developing countries, particularly those in Africa, require immediate support from the international community, since the resources available to them are insufficient. They have to allocate such resources to paying off their foreign debt instead of using them for development. Today, Africa spends four times more on debt servicing than it does on education and health combined.

Therefore, without the allocation of the needed resources and the contribution of the rich countries, it will be impossible to reverse the trend, thus aggravating these and other problems in the developing countries.

Only if the developing countries receive special and differentiated treatment; if they are guaranteed full access to markets; if the deterioration in commodity prices is halted; if their foreign debt is cancelled; if they obtain access to modern technology; if official development assistance is increased; and if they are given the necessary financial resources without interference or precondition will they be able to achieve sustainable development.

The commitment to multilateralism should lead to the exercise of shared responsibility on the part of all States in the attainment of those commitments and goals. We also firmly believe, however, nonetheless that such responsibility must be differentiated between the rich and the poor countries so that special measures may be applied that favour the developing countries. Not to do so would be to perpetuate inequality and make us unable to fulfil the desired development objectives established in the Millennium Declaration.

Mr. Zarif (Iran)

I wish to begin by expressing my gratitude to the Secretary-General for producing a comprehensive and thoughtful report on the work of the Organization. This report bears witness to the extensive and unrelenting efforts made by the Secretary-General and his colleagues in the Secretariat to advance the goals of the Organization.

My delegation applauds the Secretary-General for his significant focus, both in his report and in his insightful address to this Assembly, on the constructive change that multilateralism makes possible, as well as the opportunities and solutions that it provides. We believe that such a focus is of especially great importance at this stage of international relations. We are pleased that the leadership of the United Nations has taken the lead in developing the principles and practice of multilateralism and, in so doing, proficiently lived up to the expectations of the entire international community.

Undoubtedly, a growing tendency towards unilateral action that has intensified in the past year or two lies at the origin of the ongoing uncertainty and insecurity and, if unchecked, may cause a dangerous and widening rift between those who tend to act unilaterally and the wider international community. And as such, it poses fundamental risks to the international system, in the sense that it has already given rise to conflicting conceptions of how the great public goods -- security, peace, environment, health, trade, aid and so many other things -- can be achieved.

Unilateral policy and behaviour are not compatible with the globalized and interconnected nature of the current international system and are thus not sustainable in the medium and long terms. A glance at the actual world reveals that, as the Secretary-General correctly states in his report,

"no single country has the capacity to cope with the political, economic, environmental and technological challenges of an interconnected world". (A/57/1, para. 4)

It is obvious that the current international structure is not unipolar in the sense that one super-Power, no matter how powerful it may be, can effectively resolve important international issues alone.

It is against this background that the vision provided by the Secretary-General on the need to enhance multilateralism takes on more importance. Inasmuch as the United Nations is a universal Organization and the unilateral approach runs counter to its very existence, it is appropriate and commendable that the leadership of this Organization play a leading role in preserving and promoting cooperation and coordination at the international level.

Driven by this vision, clearly, the leadership of the Secretary-General has made a significant difference on the issues of peace and security. To the extent possible, the United Nations has done its best to live up to the expectations of the world community with regard to the challenge of terrorism in the wake of the terrorist attacks on 11 September. The Secretary-General's report refers to multi-pronged efforts undertaken by the United Nations with a view to mobilizing and harmonizing the global struggle against terrorism. In our view, the United Nations is playing its part remarkably in building on the new focus of the international community on weak or collapsed States, such as Afghanistan, and mobilizing for their reconstruction. In the case of Afghanistan, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has played a positive role since its establishment last March as a positive example of an integrated United Nations Mission designed to address almost all aspects of the situation.

We also concur with the Secretary-General that "terrorism has political, economic, social and psychological roots" (ibid., para. 1). While nothing at all can justify the killing of innocent people, we believe that, unless political issues that serve as breeding grounds for terrorism are effectively addressed, unilateral military and forcible measures will be able only to cut terrorism's limbs. To address these issues more appropriately, we believe that there is a need for closer coordination between the Secretary-General and the Security Council.

As to the Palestinian question, one of the lingering political issues in the report of the Secretary-General, it is unfortunate that the Israeli regime has frustrated and finally defeated all efforts undertaken by the Secretary-General and his representatives aimed at alleviating the plight of the Palestinian people. The assertion by the Secretary-General, who has repeatedly affirmed that security cannot be achieved while no move towards the restoration of the basic rights of the Palestinian people is in sight, has fallen on deaf ears.

The proposal made last April by the Secretary-General to establish a multinational force was a courageous initiative, which, if implemented, could have had a great impact in lessening the suffering of the Palestinian people. Moreover, the effort of the Secretary-General to organize an investigation into the crimes committed during the Israeli incursion into the Jenin refugee camp -- an effort that was blocked by the Israelis -- is also worth recalling.

Regrettably, the Security Council has failed to act on these initiatives or to follow through on them and, in general, the Council continued in the period under review with its pattern of inability to put an end to the occupation of the Arab lands or to take any action that might improve the plight of the Palestinians. It is needless to recall that several actual vetoes or threats of veto lie at the origin of the paralysis of the Security Council on the Palestinian question. In the final analysis, the failure of the Council to enforce the implementation of its numerous resolutions risks eroding its authority.

In the area of disarmament, like the Secretary-General, we are disheartened by the low level of international cooperation in relevant multilateral forums. Regrettably, as he states in his reports, negotiations on a number of issues in the Conference on Disarmament remained deadlocked. The unilateralist tendency is having an impact, thereby rendering the task of the United Nations in conducting multilateral negotiations on strengthening the ban on weapons of mass destruction more difficult.

Moreover, an inclination towards a unilateral approach is blocking the negotiations on the protocol of the Biological Weapons Convention. As a result, in the period under review, the United Nations has been successful in achieving only some progress in implementing the Programme of Action on the illicit trade in small arms and in the increase in the number of participants in the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms. Indeed, it is modest progress indicative of the long way yet to be travelled.

In the field of development, we concur with the view of the Secretary-General that collaboration among United Nations system, the Bretton Woods Institutions and the World Trade Organization should be continued and further augmented. Obviously, the aim of this cooperation is to achieve the internationally agreed development goals contained in the Millennium Declaration and in the outcomes of the Conference on Financing for Development, the World Summit on Sustainable Development and other major conferences and summits. We also agree with the Secretary-General that reinforcing the institutional capacity of the United Nations regional commissions to implement regional programmes is an important and challenging task for the United Nations. As a matter of fact, implementation is a challenge at all levels. Fortunately, the conferences in Doha, Monterey and Johannesburg have clearly defined how to address the challenge of putting the development concerns of the vast majority of countries -- the developing world -- at the centre of the activities of international organizations, in particular the United Nations. In the light of the outcomes of those conferences, the United Nations can and should further improve its work. To perform its leadership role, it is of crucial importance that the United Nations take concrete measures to implement the outcomes of those conferences which relate to the institutional and organizational aspects of its work. To this end, chapter X of the World Summit on Sustainable Development's Plan of Implementation -- which anticipates new changes in the work of the United Nations system -- and other relevant conferences should be implemented in an expeditious manner. Operationalization of those outcomes, which have the endorsement of world leaders, would enable the United Nations to succeed in the important aspect of its work: the promotion of development.

Finally, my delegation has noted the emphasis the report places on the efforts towards ensuring sound financial management, mainstreaming performance management and consolidating the reform of human resources management within the Secretariat. The findings and conclusions of various inspections, in-depth evaluations, audit activities and investigations undertaken during the past year demonstrate the importance of an intensified mechanism of accountability which is to be instilled throughout the Organization. Such a mechanism, a key element in the successful completion of the reform in human resources management, is imperative for full implementation of all mandated programmes approved by Member States. We believe that the Office of Human Resource Management should continue its central role of effectively supervising, among other things, the recruitment process to ensure that, while attracting highly qualified staff, the principle of equitable geographical distribution is respected, including in filling vacancies in senior management positions. Strengthening the United Nations to be credible and capable of responding to the challenges emanating from the ongoing globalization process and to be relevant to all Member States entails the enhanced capacity of the Secretariat. We hope that the most recent round of reforms initiated by the Secretary-General will help the Secretariat's programme of work to better respond to the demands and concerns of Member States, particularly developing countries.

The Acting President

I now give the floor to the representative of Denmark, to speak on behalf of the European Union.