UNITED
NATIONS  GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
ADDRESS
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE
FIFTY EIGHT SESSION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO THE PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION
OF AMERICAN STATES
AT THE MEETING OF EXPERTS ON DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE
19 NOVEMBER 2003
Mr.
Chair of the Permanent Council, Mr. Assistant Secretary-General,
Permanent and Alternate Representatives of the Member States,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
For
me, it is a singular honour to be the first President of
the United Nations General Assembly to address the Permanent
Council of the Organization of American States (OAS). I
wish to express my appreciation to the Chairman of the Permanent
Council, H.E. Salvador E. Rodezno Fuentes, Permanent Representative
of Honduras, who extended the invitation to me. I am also
appreciative to the Assistant Secretary General H.E. Mr.
Luigi Einaudi, and the Member States of the Council for
graciously welcoming me here at the OAS.
That
my country, St Lucia, a small island developing state of
the Caribbean, joined the OAS upon attaining its independence
in 1979, attests to the significance both our Government
and People attach to this important hemispheric organization.
We have, through our committed and active participation,
demonstrated our confidence in the organization to address
the thorniest problems affecting countries of the Americas.
My own
experience with the OAS has been not only at the political,
but also at the personal level. As representative of the
Caribbean Community (CARICOM), I had the opportunity to
work together with the OAS in its cooperative initiative
with CARICOM in the Republic of Haiti. Our joint efforts
implemented a commitment of fundamental importance to the
OAS, CARICOM, the hemisphere, and indeed the United Nations
- promoting democracy and the democratic ideal.
The
high regard that St Lucia has for the OAS, and its constructive
relations with the organization adds to the significance
of this occasion. But as President of the Fifty-eighth Session
of the United Nations General Assembly, my address to this
Council signifies the recognition by this distinguished
body that in a world that increasingly confounds us with
its complexity, and daunts us with its dangers, multilateralism
is the key to our survival. Critical to building a multilateralism
that is meaningful is the mutual understanding and strong
links we develop between states and organizations, and between
the United Nations and regional organizations, in this instance
the OAS.
The
countries of the Americas have an historic place in the
establishment of the United Nations. Of the 51 countries
and national entities that gathered at San Francisco in
1945 to sign the Charter of the United Nations, twenty-two
were from the Americas. Accounting for more than a third
of the countries at San Francisco, they joined in declaring
their determination to save succeeding generations from
war; reaffirmed faith in fundamental human rights, in the
dignity and worth of the human person, and in the equal
rights of men and women and of nations large and small;
and in pledging to establish conditions under which international
law would be respected, and to promote social progress and
better standards of life in larger freedoms. Other countries
of the region shared this vision of the United Nations and
as they became independent, joined the organisation.
It was
not surprising that the countries of the Americas could
make a significant contribution to the discourse at San
Francisco. It was about a century and a half ago that the
great Liberator, Simon Bolivar, summoned the Congress of
Panama with the aim of establishing an association of states
in the hemisphere. That goal may not have been realized
then, but other initiatives proceeded in a straight line,
ranging from the International Union of American Republics
through the Pan American Union to the founding of the OAS
in 1948.
The
context in which the United Nations and the OAS work may
be different, their perspectives and immediate objectives
may vary, and the machinery for reaching their objectives
may not be quite the same. As nation states, our quest for
a peaceful world, human rights and fundamental freedoms
and better standards of life in larger freedoms is a matter
of coordinating the different paths we must take to reach
the same shared goals. So it is with our organizations -
the United Nations and the OAS are both working towards
the same end, although they may be using different means
to reach it, and may in fact reach it at quite different
times. Even before the United Nations Universal Declaration
of Human Rights was concluded, for example, the American
Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man had been adopted.
It was followed by the Inter American Court of Human Rights,
a pioneering institution of which we are all proud.
The
General Assembly, the United Nations only universal organ,
is the leading forum for discussion of the full range of
issues on the global agenda. The nature and scope of current,
new and emerging issues on that agenda were compellingly
reflected in the Assembly's General Debate, convened on
23 September - 2 October 2003. The numbers of Heads of State
and Government and other high level officials participating
in the debate was higher than at any meeting since the Millennium
Summit. This underscores the critical juncture at which
the global community finds itself.
Heads
of State and Government and other high-level officials in
the General Debate highlighted Issues of sustainable development,
poverty alleviation, human rights and fundamental freedoms,
of peace and security, terrorism and organizational revitalization
and change, for priority attention by the General Assembly.
I am pleased to say that these issues accord with the priorities
of the St Lucian Presidency. But importantly, there is a
striking degree of convergence between the key issues highlighted
by high-level participants in the General Debate, and which
are priorities for the United Nations, and the issues of
which the OAS is seized.
There is strong support for multilateralism at the United
Nations, as the essential means for dealing with critical
global problems. The United Nations is reaffirmed as the
primary organization through which such problems might be
addressed - more vital, it is frequently said, than ever
before. Hand in hand with support for the United Nations
went an active determination to vigorously pursue continuing
revitalization of the organization, in particular, the General
Assembly and the Security Council.
There
is general agreement that the United Nations, after fifty-eight
years, must change, if it is to remain dynamic in a world
very different from the one its founders knew. As President,
I have responded to the urging for revitalization of the
Assembly, with a view to its working more efficiently over
the broad range of issues within its mandate. Even as we
speak, consultations are ongoing at the United Nations,
to reach agreement on a resolution we hope would be presented
to the General Assembly this December.
The
reform of the Security Council is a different matter, because
central issues such as permanent membership and the veto
are exceptionally challenging. There is an English saying
that how people will react, "depends on whose ox is
being gored". Simply put, this means that nations,
like people, will act, or refuse to act, when they think
that their interests are being advanced or imperiled. I
must, however, respond to Member States request for action
in this area. Currently, we are taking stock of ten years
of discussion, before we present proposals for consideration.
There is significant momentum for revitalization and reform,
which gives hope that Member States will take up the challenge
where it might be indicated.
The
United Nations Secretary-General has also taken an initiative
that will lead to United Nations reform proposals. He has
appointed a group of eminent persons to advise him on these
matters, principally in the area of peace and security.
These are issues on which the United Nations membership
will pronounce and take decisions in the fullness of time.
Development
and prosperity - or their opposite - of countries and regions
continue to be identified among the broad problems confronting
us early in the twenty-first century. Increasingly, states
are recognizing, by bitter experience, the relationship
between poverty worldwide and issues such as inequity in
the global economic system, inter-state and intra state
conflict, environmental degradation and the ravages of pandemics
such as HIV/AIDS.
It had
been expected that globalization and trade liberalization
would have ushered in an era of prosperity, and not an era
of vulnerability. The conventional wisdom was that the economy
of all states would be greatly improved. Yet, the reality
for many in the developing world, including in our hemisphere,
is that their economic and social situation continues to
deteriorate, and poverty continues to rise. At the United
Nations, the urgency and difficulty of advancing toward
the Millennium Development Goals, including the commitment
to reduce poverty by half by 2015, has been affirmed.
Therefore,
two important international events in the area of development,
convened early in the Fifty-eighth Session - a High-level
Dialogue on Financing for Development and High-level Plenary
on HIV/AIDS - were strongly supported. Stigma and discrimination,
the impact of HIV/AIDS on development, and the need to adequately
fund action in this area are among the issues on which the
United Nations is now focused.
The
High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development again brought
together major stake holders - Government representatives,
the Heads of the International Financial Institutions, members
of the business community and civil society - to review
implementation of the Monterrey Consensus adopted at the
International Conference on Financing for Development, held
in Monterrey, Mexico in March 2002. Critical issues such
as commodities and tax cooperation were addressed in this
context. We are now seeking to chart a path for the future,
with the objectives of better financing development and
implementing the Millennium Development Goals, firmly in
view.
It is
in itself important, but not sufficient, to recognize the
urgent needs of the African continent, facing as it does
challenges ranging from conflict and retarded or slow growth
and development to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This is a matter
now centre stage on the United Nations agenda so that concrete
action may be taken. Notably, strong support is being advocated
for the New Economic Partnership for Africa's Development
(NEPAD).
I am
happy to say that small island developing states have taken
the lead in advocating their own cause, and have raised
significant support for the issues affecting them. In August
of next year, there will be a follow-up Conference in respect
of the Plan of Action for the Sustainable development of
Small Island Developing States, which, given the significant
number of SIDS that are members of this OAS, would no doubt
receive the strong support of the general membership. At
the United Nations, the SIDS are encouraging the broadest
possible participation in the Conference.
In the
political and security area, it is no surprise that the
situation in Iraq has engaged the attention of all at the
United Nations. There is, generally, no dissent from the
view that the international community has an obligation,
through the United Nations, to provide support to post-war
Iraq. It is also a shared objective that the Iraqi people
be enabled, as soon as possible, to take charge of their
own country and their future.
The
deterioration of the situation in the Middle East is a grave
international concern. At the United Nations, there is a
ground swell of support for initiatives that would bring
peace to the region, and that would lead to the creation
of two states - Israel and Palestine - living side by side
in peace.
The
increasingly urgent threat of terrorism has brought home
to us how very much our world has changed since the dramatic
attack on the headquarters cities of the United Nations
and the OAS on 11 September 2001. Now, the threat of terrorism
is not someone else's problem, it is a global problem. It
is clear, therefore, that fighting terrorism will require
a multilateral effort - to track the flow of illicit capital,
the financing of terrorist groups, the illegal flow of arms
and the networks of transnational organized criminals, including
those involved in illicit drug trafficking.
Resources
diverted into the fight against terrorism require countries
- some of them seriously hard-pressed economically - to
divert scarce resources from their own social development,
without much realistic hope of these shortfalls being made
up from outside. Nor would indirect support, like better
terms of trade or greater access to technology, be easily
forthcoming.
Now,
we are faced with another new and disquieting development
- increasingly, the United Nations itself, its Specialized
Agencies and their staff members are being singled out as
targets of terrorism. This is a disturbing trend, evidenced
again just last weekend in Afghanistan. This trend has enormous
consequences for our collective policies and programmes.
These are issues receiving much attention at the United
Nations.
There is now tremendous support for the United Nations to
advance significantly in the areas I have outlined. Our
primary task now is to ensure that the considerable areas
of consensus on the issues find form in the resolutions
of the General Assembly. Not resolutions that are vague
to accommodate multiple points of views, but resolutions
that can translate consensus into specific, implementable
action. And we also need to take the necessary action to
make the United Nations an efficient and effective organization,
in the service of all the world's people.
I said at the outset that we in the United Nations and you
in the OAS may deal with issues from different perspectives.
The issues, however, are essentially the same, and there
are important synergies between the work of the OAS in this
hemisphere and the work of the United Nations.
In many
ways, the OAS continues to take the lead in dealing with
key issues on the global agenda. The increasing danger posed
by nuclear proliferation is once again engaging the attention
of the international community. The region has led the way
in this area, by establishing through the Treaty of Tatelolco,
the world's first nuclear-free zone. The OAS Convention
on Corruption preceded the United Nations Convention on
Corruption, and the region is fully engaged regarding the
United Nations Convention, expected to be opened for signature
in Mexico next month.
It is
significant, also, that the OAS has held three very important
meetings in close succession on matters of critical importance
on its agenda, and which also feature prominently on the
international agenda - the OAS High Level Meeting on Poverty,
Equity and Social Inclusion; the OAS Special Conference
on Security; and the Meeting of Experts on Democratic Governance.
Given the importance of underpinning democracy with economic
and social progress, of putting in place strategies for
poverty alleviation and for security and alleviating the
debt burden in the hemisphere, the outcomes of these meeting
should be part not only of the hemispheric strategy but
of the strategy of the international community as a whole.
Importantly, they constitute part of the Summit of the Americas
process, a significant aspect of which is the creation of
a Free Trade Area of the Americas. I know that member states
of the OAS are working diligently, to negotiate a trading
system that would be fair and equitable, and from which
all may benefit, given the links between trade at the regional
and international levels.
The
United Nations Charter recognizes the importance of regional
organizations in collaborative efforts that would assist
the organization to deliver on its global mandates. It has
worked particularly well with the OAS in that regard - collaboration
between the OAS and the United Nations Economic Commission
for Latin America concerning the FTAA and the joint human
rights observation mission of the OAS and the United Nations
in Haiti are but two examples of this fruitful collaboration.
I believe
that we who are members of both the United Nations and the
OAS have a decisive role to play in the development of mutual
understanding and synergies between our two organizations.
I would urge us today to continue to enhance our efforts
for the realization of peace and security, economic progress
and well being and social justice.
Thank
you.
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