Statement
By
Mr. Brian
Cowen, T.D.
During the
General Debate
at the
Fifty-fifth Session
of the
General Assembly
of the
United Nations
Mr President,
Your election as President of the Millennium General
Assembly is fitting recognition of your great dedication to international
peace. Ireland is especially grateful for your outstanding contribution to the
Good Friday Agreement signed in Belfast in 1998. We are sure that the qualities
which you displayed then will serve you well in guiding the work of this
session.
Our thanks are due also to Foreign Minister Ben-Gurirab of
Namibia, a wise and thoughtful President of the 54th General Assembly.
We are
happy to welcome Tuvalu as a new Member of the Organisation.
My colleague, Foreign Minister Védrine of France, has
already addressed this General Assembly on behalf of the European Union.
Ireland is fully associated with his remarks.
Mr President,
The Declaration adopted at the historic Millennium Summit
sets out the principles, objectives and targets which should inspire the work
of this session. Ireland is fully committed to these principles and objectives,
and we are determined to work vigorously to achieve real results.
Critics of the United Nations may doubt our ability to
achieve such results; we are determined to prove them wrong. Such critics
ignore the considerable achievements of the Organisation in recent years. Major
reform of all aspects of the Organisation has resulted in a more efficient
streamlined operation. We will work with others to strengthen the United
Nations in order to fulfill the commitment made in the Declaration, to ensure a
more effective instrument for pursuing the fight for peace and development and
against poverty, ignorance and disease.
Mr President,
The cause of peace transcends all other challenges. Whether
in the Middle East, the Western Balkans, Africa or, indeed, in our own island
of Ireland, determined efforts to build a secure and durable peace must be
tirelessly pursued. Our own experience in Ireland has taught us that there is
no greater prize, no more difficult task and no greater satisfaction than to
begin to heal the wounds of history and the scars of intolerance.
Our own efforts at building peace have convinced us that to
be effective such efforts require international support and validation. We also
have learnt that economic development goes hand in hand with building a society
with hope in its own future and pledged to overcome the bitterness of the past.
It is this experience which helps guide our approach to peace building in the
wider world. It is this experience of peace building and development which we
will bring to the deliberations of the Security Council if elected by you the
membership in the coming weeks.
Security and development are
indivisible and interrelated. Yet too often we in the international community
stand aside as hapless witnesses, hesitating to become involved, while the
innocent suffer.
We need to strengthen the capacity and commitment of the Organization
to fulfil its mandates. I therefore strongly welcome the exercise of its
authority by the United Nations in East Timor last year and more recently in
Sierra Leone. It is our duty as governments to underpin that authority.
We must address those issues which prolong conflict, even
when root causes become blurred. Let me give two examples:
- first, the illicit flow of small
arms and light weapons into areas of conflict must be stopped;
-
secondly, trafficking in high-value commodities, particularly the trade in
so- called "blood diamonds",
which has exacerbated conflicts in Africa, must be prevented. Carefully targetted,
time‑limited sanctions will help to counter this menace.
Mr
President,
Enhancing the role of the United Nations in peacekeeping is
a priority for this session. To broaden that role, we urge an integrated
approach combining prevention, settlement and post-conflict peace-building.
While the Security Council has a global remit to maintain
international peace and security in every region of the world, it is right that
it pay special attention at this time to the promotion of durable peace in
Africa. We therefore welcome the declared intention of the Security Council at
the Millennium Summit to ensure that it plays a more effective role in this
urgent and necessary task.
Peacekeeping is at the heart of Ireland's contribution to
the United Nations. For more than forty years we have participated continuously
in United Nations peacekeeping operations. Irish personnel have served under UN
command in the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. We are proud
of the contribution which our peacekeepers have made in so many areas of the
world. At the same time we deeply regret that 82 of our Irish soldiers have
died in the service of the United Nations. Other Member States have also
sustained losses and I would like to express my deep regret at the brutal
attack last week on UN personnel in West Timor as well as at the recent
outrages in Sierra Leone.
It is because of our own long and at times frustrating
experience of peacekeeping that Ireland welcomes the publication of the Brahimi
Report. In light of this experience I will focus in particular on three
aspects:
- First, the United Nations
must have the resources and capacity to deliver well‑planned and
effective peace support operations. The Member States must give the Secretary General
and his staff the means to do the job;
- Secondly, if the United Nations is to
save lives, it must be capable of deploying into conflict areas rapidly. This requires
rapid decision‑making.
-
Thirdly, effective operations depend on well‑trained peacekeepers.
A more integrated approach
must be taken to develop training and equipment of UN peacekeeping personnel.
Ireland's own UN Training School has provided such training to over 170 officers
from 40 countries and we intend to enhance this role in cooperation with like minded
countries.
To these ends, we will contribute
actively, in this Assembly, to the urgent follow-up on the proposals that have
been put forward.
Mr
President,
Progress in disarmament remains crucially important both to
the maintenance of peace and to development.
At the Sixth Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation
Treaty, very considerable efforts were made by all the States parties to ensure
a successful outcome. This reflects the central role of this Treaty for the
achievement of a world free of nuclear weapons. The outcome highlights the
underlying premise of the Non-Proliferation Treaty that these weapons do not
provide assurances of peace and security. The threat to humanity posed by their
continued existence will remain until we achieve an effective and global ban.
There have been welcome and significant reductions of their
arsenals by the nuclear weapon States. But defence strategies, based on nuclear
weapons, continue to include the possible use, even the first use, of these
weapons. The Non-Proliferation Treaty is not a charter for the indefinite
retention of nuclear weapons by any State. It represents a clear obligation to
make nuclear disarmament a reality.
At the Review Conference the parties to the Non-Proliferation
Treaty came closer in their common understanding of what is demanded by the
Treaty. In this connection the "unequivocal commitment to the total
elimination of their nuclear weapons" made by the nuclear weapon States is
of fundamental significance.
However, let us not lull ourselves into complacency because
we have reached agreement on a programme of action. We now have an opportunity
to begin the root and branch elimination of these weapons. Progress is
primarily dependent on action by the five nuclear weapon States. States which
participate in security arrangements involving nuclear weapons have a particular
responsibility to diminish the role of nuclear weapons in security policies.
All states share a responsibility to advance negotiation of those measures
needed to guarantee a world free of nuclear weapons. For our part, Ireland and
our partners in the New Agenda Coalition are determined to work vigorously for
the achievement of this goal.
I referred earlier to the role of conventional arms in
conflict situations. The ravages and suffering caused by small arms as well as
by landmines are immense. We are, at least in the case of landmines, beginning
to see positive results from the implementation of the Ottawa Convention. The
practical outcome has been the destruction of over 22 million mines by some 50
states; expenditure on mine clearance has more than doubled, and countless
lives have been saved.
Next year, the United Nations will focus on small arms with
the first International Conference specifically addressing this issue. We must
set ambitious goals for the conference so that we may have a basis for making
genuine inroads on the culture of violence fostered by the dissemination of
these weapons.
Mr President,
Peace and development are essential to each other. Without
peace, there can be no development. Without development, peace is hard to sustain.
Without freedom from the threat of war, from human rights
abuse and from famine, there can be no lasting human progress. The elimination
of poverty and access to basic healthcare and education are crucial to
sustainable development. Nonetheless, we witness today an unprecedented
contrast between the prosperity of developed countries and the poverty of those
that have been left behind. And yet, at the same time, we are witnessing an
actual decline in development aid levels.
It has long been an objective of Irish Governments to bring
our development cooperation effort into line with our national economic growth
and to meet the UN development cooperation target. Last week my Government took
an important step forward by committing Ireland to meet the UN target of 0.7%
of GNP by the end of 2007, and to reach the level of 0.45% by the end of 2002.
This will clearly represent a significant increase in volume terms. Indeed, in
meeting our targets, we anticipate a four‑fold increase in our aid over
the next seven years.
This will greatly increase our ability to make a real impact
on the lives of some of the poorest people on earth. Our aid budget is both a
test and a reflection of our commitment to the values and principles set out in
the Millennium Summit Declaration.
As we enter the Millennium, we are faced with several
development issues which require immediate attention. We must begin to address
the question of debt relief in a more coherent manner. The most heavily
indebted countries need a sound basis for the achievement of acceptable levels
of growth free from grinding debt. We must recognize that the burden on these
states is unsustainable in the face of the challenges of poverty alleviation
and AIDS.
Speed is essential in delivering results from the Enhanced
Debt Initiative if it is to remain credible. In addition to a European Union
contribution of almost one billion dollars, Ireland has bilaterally contributed
over forty million dollars in debt relief, although as a matter of principle we
have never extended loans under the guise of development assistance. This is
why our aid has always been in grant form. All of our development aid is also
untied.
Greater market access by the least developed countries must
be a priority. With the early implementation of the European Union's commitment
to grant duty and quota free access to its market for the least developed
countries by 2005, a major step in this direction will have been taken.
One of the greatest challenges to development is HIV/AIDS.
If the spread of AIDS is to be arrested, we need:
• strong
political will in the leadership of the most affected countries;
• greater
international resources;
• greater
access to essential drugs at prices that are affordable; and
• more
research funds for the development of vaccines.
The fight against AIDS is now an integral part of all Irish
development activities, with funding budgeted for both prevention and the
search for vaccines.
Mr President,
Respect for human rights is central to the maintenance of
peace and the promotion of development. It underpins all the activities of the
United Nations.
Putting weapons in the hands of children and sending them
into conflict undermines the most basic rights and innocence of the child. This
is a scandal which cannot be allowed to continue. Through the Optional Protocol
to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in
armed conflicts - which Ireland was among the first to sign - a start has been
made in addressing this issue. But much more must be done.
The establishment of the International Criminal Court offers
a unique opportunity to bring to justice the perpetrators of crimes against
humanity and other serious violations of international law. Ireland is moving
rapidly to ratify the Convention. The International Criminal Tribunals for
former Yugoslavia and Rwanda demonstrate how necessary it is to exercise
international jurisdiction to end the culture of impunity where violations of
basic human rights occur.
Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance
persist in all our societies. The 2001 World Conference Against Racism will
provide an opportunity to create a vision for the fight against racism and all
intolerance for the coming century. I pay tribute here to the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern T.D., our
Prime Minister, was pleased to be amongst the first to sign the Declaration
entitled: "Tolerance and Diversity - A Vision for the 21st Century",
which was presented at the Millennium Summit. I believe that it will generate a
positive approach to the World Conference.
Mr President,
I know that our friends in the
international community continue to follow developments in the peace process in
Ireland with close interest. Indeed, the governments of many Member States have
played an important and concrete part in the successes we have achieved to
date.
I am particularly pleased therefore to be able to report
that in the past year, in the face of many difficulties, we have made real
progress towards the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
The new
political institutions are up and working well.
In Northern Ireland there is an Executive on which all parts
of the community - nationalist, unionist and republican - are represented as of
right, and where Ministers are working constructively together to improve the
quality of life for all of the people. The North/South Ministerial Council - which
brings together Ministers from both jurisdictions on the island - and the
Implementation Bodies which it oversees, are developing new ways of working
together, delivering tangible benefits in areas of mutual importance and
interest. In the British-Irish Council, we are forging new relationships,
including with the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales.
We are firmly committed to ensuring that all other aspects
of the Agreement are implemented in full.
Policing reform is a vital part of the new dispensation we
are striving to create in Northern Ireland. All sides of the community want to
see an effective, accountable policing service to which they can give
allegiance and which young people, whatever their background, can join. The
Agreement promised a new beginning in this area and the Patten Report set out
how it can be achieved. It is now crucially important that the legislative proposals,
currently before Parliament at Westminster, secure that outcome.
The Agreement also contains extensive commitments in the
area of human rights and we are working to ensure that they are delivered. My
Government has established an independent Human Rights Commission with a
mandate and remit that surpass the standards set in the Paris Principles. We
are in the process of appointing its members. We look forward to the Commission
working closely with its counterpart in the North for the protection and
promotion of human rights throughout the island of Ireland.
We also need to see continued progress towards security and
justice arrangements appropriate to a society in which peace will become the
norm, and to see the question of arms resolved for all time. To this end, we
have made great strides forward in recent months.
Our task in the peace process has always been more than the
putting in place of a new set of institutions and arrangements, important
though they undoubtedly are. We are endeavouring to create a new beginning for
what has been a deeply divided society - a new beginning where the divisions of
the past are overcome. The task which the Irish Government has set itself is to
work with others in peace, partnership and in a spirit of mutual tolerance and
respect, building together a better future for all of the people of Ireland.
This demands patience, persistence and perseverance.
A great
deal remains to be done.
Far too many people continue to have their lives blighted by
sectarianism and hatred. There are still those who prefer to foster division,
retarding rather than advancing the cause of reconciliation.
On both sides, there are still small groups of dissidents
prepared to use violence to bring down the Agreement and to frustrate the
democratically expressed wishes of the people. They have nothing to offer and
they will not be allowed to succeed.
In Northern Ireland, many people have yet to experience the
full benefits of change and the return of hope and normality to their lives.
Some remain sceptical about the benefits of the Agreement. But, working
together with the British Government and with the representatives of all sides
of the community, we will continue to do all in our power to convince them that
the Agreement represents not only a balanced and honourable accommodation, but
the only way forward.
The international community has made an important
contribution to our achievements to date. Without the support and encouragement
of the international community, we could not have come so far. When we embarked
on our journey towards peace, we knew that it would take a great deal of time
and of work to see the Agreement implemented in full. We remain firmly
committed to the task and take heart from the substantial progress we have made
and draw courage from your continued support.
Mr President,
In the course of my statement I have set out my Government's
position on the key issues which face the United Nations. It is this approach
and commitment which will inform our actions if we are elected to the Security
Council. Ireland is standing for election after twenty years absence on the
Council. We do so as a small State which has already made a significant
contribution to the work of this Organisation. Faithful to the principles and
purposes of the Charter, we have faced and tried to overcome the legacies of
strife and underdevelopment that have marked our own history. Membership of the
Security Council will allow us to bring to the service of all the lessons of
our own experience as well as our full commitment to the United Nations.
Thank you
Mr President.