General Assembly Session 59 meeting 39

Mr. Tjitendero (Namibia)

This being my first statement to the General Assembly at this session, let me take this rare opportunity to personally congratulate you, Sir, on your election as President of the Assembly.

The consolidated report of the Secretary-General (A/59/303) before us points to the comprehensive nature of the activities of the United Nations in the areas of peace and development, as well as to the importance of information-sharing and experience-sharing among regional organizations.

The cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union (AU) is something that we in Africa value greatly. United Nations assistance to the AU during its transition from the Organization of African Unity has been of great importance. In that context, we welcome the increased interaction between the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa with the AU Commission. As Africa continues to implement the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), which is a partnership with the rest of the world, the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa is well placed to advocate progress on the implementation and mobilization of support for NEPAD through the United Nations system. Now that the Commission of the African Union is fully functional, we believe that the assistance rendered during the transition should be translated into concrete programmes of cooperation. In that regard, we applaud the concrete steps taken by the World Food Programme (WFP) to enhance cooperation with the African Union, and we call for support in the four key priority areas jointly agreed upon with the African Union.

Cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union in the area of peace and security, and particularly in peacekeeping missions and in brokering peace, is enhancing security in Africa. But it must be stressed that peacekeeping operations must go hand in hand with humanitarian efforts. That is true not only for the conflict situation in Darfur but for other conflict situations as well. When the international community is reluctant to respond generously to humanitarian appeals for Africa's conflict and emergency situations, it regrettably sets back peace efforts and further aggravates those situations. Therefore, it is important that cooperation be deepened between the Security Council and the African Union's Peace and Security Council, as well as between the United Nations system as a whole and the African Union Commission.

I wish to point out that the challenges and the level of experience of regional organizations varies from region to region. That sharing of information and experience will save scarce resources, prevent us from reinventing the wheel and enable us to adapt success stories to regional circumstances. In that respect, the quarterly magazine, Africa Renewal, continues to be an effective source of information. It not only disseminates information on developments in Africa to the world but also enables the five subregions of Africa to remain informed on developments in their own region and on the continent as a whole.

Mr. Tjitendero (Namibia)

I shall say a few words on the Southern African Development Community. In this regard, we associate ourselves with the comments made by the representative of the Republic of Botswana, who spoke on behalf of all of us.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has long-standing relations with the United Nations that go back as far as the struggle for decolonization in Southern Africa. SADC, as a community, continues to contribute to the realization of the purposes and principles of the United Nations and thus benefits immensely from this comity of nations. SADC has therefore requested the Secretary-General to grant it accreditation as an observer to the General Assembly. We are confident that we can count on the support of all, in particular the regional organizations represented in the Assembly.

In March this year, SADC Heads of State and Government adopted its regional indicative strategic development plan. In formulating that plan, SADC took into account the ongoing transformation of the African Union and the launching of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). At the global level, economic challenges facing SADC include the process and the effects of globalization, which encompass, among other things, financial, trade and technological constraints. Thus, the regional indicative strategic development plan is aligned with the Millennium Development Goals. SADC continues to cooperate with the United Nations system through various programmes in areas such as peace and security, health, education, the environment and sustainable resource management and trade. We appreciate the support of the United Nations system and call for increased resources for the Economic Commission for Africa.

The adverse climatic conditions of Southern Africa result in recurring droughts and floods, leading to emergency situations including food shortages. In that context, we welcome the establishment of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Regional Support Office for Southern Africa and the Regional Inter-Agency Support Coordination Office, which is proving to be effective in delivering and coordinating humanitarian assistance. Let me emphasize that the OCHA regional office can only coordinate delivery. Assistance to complement the efforts of SADC must come from the international community at large.

As the item under discussion is cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, I would be remiss if I did not express my delegation's thanks and appreciation to the European Union and other development partners, which continue to assist the development efforts of SADC countries in our region.

This brings me to a topic that is very close to my heart and for which I have worked for a number of years since the independence of Namibia, namely, the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) has always advocated a strong and effective multilateral system with the United Nations at its centre. After all, IPU is comprised of parliamentarians from Member States of our Organization, the United Nations.

Following Namibia's birth in 1990, IPU was one of the first international organizations my country joined. For the past 14 years, Namibia has been a loyal member of IPU and has been privileged to witness the exciting developments of the organization, particularly in the area of reform and, more importantly, its cooperation with the United Nations. As we all know, the Union, founded in 1889, is an international organization under which the world's parliaments assemble.

The topic of cooperation between the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union is indeed very much in order, given the fact that, while the United Nations represents, for the most part, the executive arm of Member States, IPU represents the legislative arm of Member States. It is therefore critical that we applaud the observer status that the United Nations has accorded IPU and the continued effort aimed at improving the relationship between the two organizations.

Over the past years, member parliaments of IPU have asserted that it is important to approach solutions to global conflicts in a multidimensional manner to support and strengthen the United Nations system. As indicated in the report of the Secretary-General on cooperation between the United Nations and regional and other organizations (A/59/303), IPU has been addressing issues similar to those concerning the United Nations. Parliamentarians of the world, through IPU, have had to deal with issues of conflict, as witnessed in Iraq, the Great Lakes region of Africa, the Middle East and other hot spots in the world. In its different forums, IPU has addressed issues relating to trade and development, information society, terrorism and the protection and the promotion of human rights throughout the world. We look forward to the recommendations of the High-level Panel to be issued later this year. Furthermore, as we move towards the mid-term review of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, IPU, through the second Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Parliament, will pronounce itself on that very important development issue.

In conclusion, we support the conclusions of Secretary-General's report relating to this question.

Mr. Bieri (Switzerland)

The importance of cooperation between the United Nations and the other international organizations hardly needs to be stressed. The aim is to achieve a better distribution of tasks between the United Nations, which is the most important organization of a universal nature, and regional and sectoral organizations, which have the goal of finding the best possible solutions to particular problems of our time.

The pre-eminent role played by the United Nations in peacekeeping and in authorizing the use of force is, for us, a fundamental principle. Apart from cases of legitimate defence, force may be used only with the approval of the Security Council.

Our conception of the nature of relations between the United Nations and regional organizations is based on another principle -- that of subsidiarity. With its 26 cantons and 2,800 communes, Switzerland puts the principle of task-sharing into practice on a daily basis. Thus we enable actors on the ground to formulate and then to implement -- in cooperation with higher authorities -- solutions that best respond to the needs of the local population.

There can be no doubt that major contemporary challenges in the fields of security, sustainable development in all its aspects and respect for human rights need to be discussed at the international level within the institutions of the United Nations. Nevertheless, regional and sectoral organizations have an essential role to play in the search for solutions that are appropriate to specific regional, social or cultural contexts and to the implementation of such solutions. In our view, organizations with a parliamentary dimension, such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union at the global level and the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) at the regional level, have a special role to play in this context.

Swiss institutions have traditionally taken an open approach to civil society as a whole. Elected representatives, in particular members of parliament, play a key role in conveying the aspirations and the concerns of civil society. We are therefore particularly interested in the recent proposals to make the United Nations more open to national parliaments and hence to new partners from civil society, the private sector and non-governmental organizations. We also noted with great interest the recommendations of the recent Cardoso report, which advocates, in particular, improved participation by national parliaments in the work of the United Nations. It is essential that the voice of the people be heard, and historical experience has shown that it is parliaments that are best able to articulate the aspirations of peoples to live together in peace, with respect for their identity.

The Council of Europe is an example of a regional organization that, thanks to a strong network of conventions, is able to ensure an increasingly close union among its members. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the OSCE has been working hard to bring a new era of democracy, peace and unity to the European continent.

Since Switzerland became a full member of the United Nations as a result of an initiative and a decision by the Swiss people, the federal parliament has shown great interest in the activities of the United Nations. My country's Government has been keeping parliament informed and consulting with it on the positions that it takes in the United Nations. It encourages parliamentarians to participate in General Assembly debates, which is why I have the honour of addressing the Assembly now, as chairman of the Swiss delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and as a member of the official Swiss delegation.

The opportunities for cooperation between the United Nations and the IPU -- the "parliament of parliaments" -- are enormous, and deserve to be developed. The text of the draft resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and the IPU, which will be submitted to the General Assembly, lays the foundation for strengthening cooperation between the two organizations and underscores the increasing parliamentary contribution and support that the IPU can bring to the United Nations.

The decision to hold, in September 2005, a second conference of speakers of national parliaments, is an important symbol of this cooperation. It will be a joint United Nations-IPU meeting to consider possible ways of strengthening the parliamentary dimension of international cooperation in the fields of peace and security, economic and social development, international law, human rights, democracy and gender equality.

That is a specific example of collaboration between the United Nations and the IPU, aimed at enabling us to find global solutions to the problems confronting us at the beginning of the twenty-first century -- problems such as war, hunger, disease, unemployment and the inequitable distribution of wealth and of knowledge. My country, Switzerland, is, of course, prepared to play its part in resolving those enormous problems.